The deep grey sky hadn't yet opened, but the threat had been present all day. A chill October wind wound through the cobbled streets of Spinner's End, brushing leaves and bits of rubbish up against the brick rowhouses. The front page of a newspaper, bearing the headline "Murderer At Large!", slapped itself to the front window of one such house, startling the lone occupant who had been gazing through it.

Severus Snape stepped away from the window and drew the curtains. It was a muggle newspaper- Snape had seen it that morning. The murderer in question was a man in Snape's own circle, Antonin Dolohov. Of course, this paper didn't know the true details of Dolohov's crimes. Nor did it know that Dolohov was little more than a distraction. A preview for the true horror yet to come.

He had pleaded with the Dark Lord to spare her life. He needed the child, not the mother. Let the father die, Snape didn't care about that. But Lily...

And the Dark Lord had laughed, and his cold voice sent chills to Snape's core. He could feel his master probing into his mind, curious and amused at Snape's affection for the Potter girl. He fought to resist, and managed to shield the thoughts that would connect Lily to the conversations he'd had with Dumbledore. The pleading, the crying, the bargaining...

Frustration welled in Snape's chest and his fists clenched, almost of their own accord. He turned to the nearest of many stacks of books and kicked it over, then turned to a chair, which he shoved into a wall. He ripped a bottle of mead from an end table and threw it across the room, where it burst in a shower of honey-colored liquid and glass.

As if on cue, the sky finally opened. The downpour pounded on the roof and windows, filling the quiet dwelling with sound. Snape slunk to his knees and buried his head in his arms.

Useless! He was useless to protect her! Yet she wouldn't see him even if he could. There was no stopping the Dark Lord, and his rage had he taken Snape seriously would have be unparallelled. He clutched his head tighter as it began to throb harder. This would kill him. Lily Evans' death would claim two lives.

He wanted to sob. He wished even a solitary tear would form, but a decade of shame had left him dry. He contented himself to heave into his own chest- or would have, had a noise not interrupted his melancholy.

He tried to ignore it. He even went through the motions as if it hadn't happened. He wiped his eyes despite their dryness, and even let loose an audible whimper. But the sound came again. Three knocks in quick succession, coming from the entrance hall. The front door.

Someone had come to call.

After a brief debate of whether to respond or not, Snape pressed himself up to stand and approached the entranceway. He pulled away the dark curtain covering the window- and drew back with a gasp. The curtain fell back in place as Snape's hand clutched his chest.

Carefully, slowly, Snape approached the door and drew back the curtain once more to see Bellatrix Lestrange grinning at him. Her left hand rested lazily on her hip while her right held her wand casually upright: an umbrella spell. Through the glass, she said:

"Aren't you going to let me in?"

Snape dropped the curtain and, after a beat, opened the door. Bellatrix swooped past him, flecks of rain falling from the invisible umbrella she held above her. Inside, she flicked her wrist, ending the spell, then pointed her wand at the floor where her wet footprints disappeared. Numbly, Snape closed the door.

"Severus, you look a wreck." Bellatrix's voice was rich and taunting. The two had never been friends- Snape had never had true friends, save one. Yet as he gazed into the face of the woman in front of him, he realized that the usual malice she gave off to him was gone. Or at least, it was subdued.

Instead, he sensed a curiosity in her. As she stood before him, Snape realized that Bellatrix was studying him. Her eyes swept from his hair down to his feet, then back up again. Suddenly self-conscious, Snape tried to stand up straighter, and found himself hoping the bags under his eyes weren't quite so noticeable.

"To what do I owe the… pleasure?" Snape drawled, remembering that his wand was currently resting on a desk in the sitting room. Bellatrix unbuttoned the shawl from around her shoulders, held it between two fingers for a moment, then let it slide from them to the floor. Underneath, she was wearing a black lace cardigan over a dark green corset with clasps down the front. From there, a breezy black skirt extended to the floor, a pair of heeled boots visible just below the fringe. She tucked her wand into her skirt.

"I have a gift for you from the Dark Lord," she answered, the corner of her lip curling in amusement. "Invite me inside, Severus."

Snape hesitated, then held up a stiff arm to direct her to the sitting room. She swooped past him, leaving Snape standing dumbly in the entranceway. He picked up Bellatrix's shawl and hung it near the door, mostly to delay their conversation for another moment, then followed her into the room.

She had pulled the chair Snape had shoved into the wall back out into the room, and settled herself in it. Her left leg was crossed over her right and she bounced her foot up and down. Her gaze was focused on the wet spot on the wall where Snape had thrown the mead. Snape shuffled on his feet, deciding whether to sit down.

"Can I… offer you something?" he tried. Of all the people to show up unannounced, at this moment, on this day, Bellatrix LeStrange was the last he would have expected, and the last he would have wished to see.

"I'm sure there's plenty you could offer me, Severus," Bellatrix replied, her voice dripping with that same taunt as before. "But I told you, I come bearing gifts."

Snape made his way to a chair across the room and sat in it. Bellatrix didn't appear to have brought anything with her, save probably her wand. His own was now only a few feet away from him, and he felt slightly safer with it nearby. Everyone knew Bellatrix was dangerous, and her own intentions always seemed shrouded.

"The Dark Lord," she began, leaning casually on the arm of the chair, "feels that you are… distracted. That you may not be fully invested in the cause." Snape shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Had Voldemort sent Bellatrix to kill him? Torture him? Petrify him until the deed was done? She continued:

"He asked me to come and help take your mind off of things." She smiled widely, revealing a set of crooked teeth. Her hair fell over her shoulders, wavy and unkempt. She brushed it off one shoulder and unbuttoned her cardigan. Then, slowly, she uncrossed her legs and turned her body toward Snape. Her skirt fell between them and she leaned forward slightly, giving Snape a better look at her bosom. His eyes lingered between her breasts for a moment before he realized what he was doing. He snapped his gaze back to her face.

"I am perfectly fine, Bellatrix," Snape finally managed to say, though he felt a shake in his voice. "Now if there's nothing else-"

"Oh, Severus," she interrupted. "This is a gift from our master. Surely you wouldn't refuse him?" This time she leaned back in the chair and let her knees splay out in what any number of Snape's previous professors would have called an un-ladylike way. The skirt still fell between them, but she pinched a square of fabric and began to pull it upward, revealing smooth, pale skin above her boot.

Snape watched the hem rise along with his suspicions. Bellatrix had come with a gift from the Dark Lord, yet had carried nothing with her. The usual signs of hostility and distrust between them seemed to have been subdued, at least on her end. And Bellatrix's current actions could be described in no other way than seductive. Could the Dark Lord really have ordered her to…?

The fabric was over her left knee now, her right leg still mostly covered. She lifted her left foot and pointed it at Snape, then rolled her ankle one way and the other. She began to laugh, and Snape realized how wide his eyes were. He tried to relax his face, only to find his body tense as well.

"This really isn't necessary-" he stammered, and Bellatrix stood up from her chair. She stepped toward him slowly, making the most of each step. Slowly, she pulled her wand from where she'd tucked it into her skirt and placed it on the desk next to Snape's. Then, she reached a hand up and pulled the cardigan down her right arm. She shifted her shoulder to let it drop down her left as well. The cardigan floated to the floor as Snape tried to press himself further back into the chair.

"Severusss…" she let his name become a hiss, and he felt himself stir between his legs. But no, he couldn't do this. He couldn't betray Lily. He couldn't betray the woman who betrayed him…

"What of Rodolphus?" he tried, hoping to appeal to her own personal affections. But he knew it would be for naught. It was common knowledge that Bellatrix truly thirsted for Voldemort. The other Death Eaters spoke of it often, though nowhere near her ears. And if he had ordered her here, Snape knew nothing would stop her. Not even the mention of her husband.

"Rodolphus?" She was directly in front of Snape now, hovering over him. The corset was the only thing covering her upper body now, and her modest bosom, pressed high and together thanks to the corset, was at his eye level. Despite his distaste for her, he couldn't deny she was dangerously attractive. She lifted a foot and pressed one of Snape's knees toward the other, then lowered her own knee in the space she created on the chair. She continued, bringing her hands to the back of the chair:

"Rodolphus believes in our master's cause, as do I." She brought her other knee onto the chair, straddling Snape. "He was present when the Dark Lord asked me to come here for you." She lowered herself onto Snape's lap and shifted herself closer to him. Her breasts were only inches from his nose, and this time, he couldn't tear his eyes away. He suddenly realized that he was erect, straining against his underclothes.

Snape's hands clenched on the arms of the chair. He stammered, trying to find something to say, trying to find some way out of the situation. But as Bellatrix began to unclasp her corset, a disturbing realization crept into Snape's mind:

Voldemort knew.

He knew that it wasn't just pity that brought Snape to ask for a pardon on Lily's life. He had seen enough of Snape's mind to see his affection for her. He knew that Snape loved her, longed for her. All this talk of distraction and "taking his mind off of things"... Voldemort wanted Snape to forget Lily Evans… by way of Bellatrix LeStrange.

Bellatrix was halfway down the corset now, opening the front to reveal her cleavage, and then her stomach. She undid the final clasp and let the corset splay open and fall to the floor. Her breasts dropped an inch, no longer supported by the tough fabric. Her dark pink nipples were erect and pointed outward.

Bellatrix leaned in and brought her mouth to Snape's ear. Snape felt his erection pressing harder against his underclothes as she took his earlobe between her teeth and pulled. She let go, then whispered, "Will you fuck me, Severus?"

If he refused, Bellatrix might torture him. Voldemort in all probability would kill him. Lily had already promised to never forgive him. There was only one answer he could give.

"Yes."

Bellatrix swung her head back around and pressed her lips up against Snape's. He gave in for a moment, bringing his hands to her back and pulling her close to him. Her tongue wriggled into his mouth and touched his, and Snape was disgusted. He reached up and grabbed a handful of her hair to pull her head away from his. Bellatrix had a look of fervor on her face and her eyes were wide and alive. Snape grimaced. He'd fuck her. He had to. But not like that.

Bellatrix took her hands to Snape's face and ran her hands down his cheeks, scraping them with her fingernails. She slid her hands to Snape's chest and began to unbutton his robe, and leaned in for another kiss. Snape pulled her hair back again, and Bellatrix shrieked with glee. She grabbed the back of his head and pressed his lips into hers. She bit his bottom lip and pulled back hard, stretching it toward her before she let go.

His lip was throbbing almost as much as his cock as Bellatrix brought her hands back to the buttons, but Snape stood abruptly and she fell to the floor. The back of her head hit the floor and she laughed menacingly. She took her hands to her breasts and squeezed them, and spread her legs. The skirt fell between them, but this time she pulled it aside to reveal black undergarments. Snape began to unbutton his robe himself as Bellatrix brought a hand between her legs and rubbed herself through her panties.

Snape let the robe fall to the floor and tore off his undershirt. Bellatrix scrambled to her knees, one hand still between her legs, and stared up at Snape, biting her lip.

"Give me your cock, Severus," she said, longing in her voice. "Please, Severus, give me your cock."

"Shut the fuck up," Snape replied, pulling off his trousers. His erection was clearly visible through his undergarments, and Bellatrix stared at it, whimpering. She licked her lips, and Snape felt his nipples harden. Bella brought her free hand to Snape's leg and tugged on his underclothes. Snape pulled them down and his erection sprung up, right in front of Bellatrix's wide eyes.

And Bellatrix wasted no time.

She took his cock in both hands and wrapped her lips around the head. Her eyes rolled back as she guided it to the back of her mouth, then to the front again. She took it out and flicked her tongue back and forth under the tip like a snake, then put it back in her mouth.

Snape's head fell backward as he felt the head of his cock hit the back of her mouth. He let out a deep moan on the next dip down as the tip went slightly down her throat. She kept it there for a moment, then let it slide from her mouth, her lips closed, sucking on him the whole time. Snape shuddered, and she let the head pop from her mouth.

She held it in front of her and brought her tongue to the tip again, flicking the underside. Then she began to make circles with her tongue around the head, and Snape felt his knees begin to weaken. Bellatrix put him back in her mouth and bobbed up and down on it, moaning. Snape grabbed the back of her head and pressed it toward his body, guiding his cock deeper into her mouth and into her throat. Bellatrix took her hands to Snape's legs and squeezed, then pressed herself away. Then she dove down on him once more, taking him as deep as she could.

She pulled off of him, panting. "Fuck me," she breathed. "Fuck me, Severus."

Snape grabbed a handful of Bellatrix's hair and threw her to the ground once again. Bellatrix reached between her legs and ripped her panties off. She spread her legs, and for the first time Snape saw her vulva. Her clitoris was prominent and visible between her labia, which were wet and glistening. She took a hand to it and inserted two fingers inside herself, and moved them in and out. She opened her mouth in an inaudible gasp, and Snape couldn't help but lick his lips.

He took his hand to his cock and began to stroke it above her. Bellatrix bit her lip and whimpered as she began to rub her clit, then started to breathe heavier. "Please, Sev," she managed. "Please put it in me…" She took her hand from her vagina and brought it to her lips. She put them in her mouth and started to suck on them.

Snape could stand it no longer. He fell to his knees and positioned himself over her body. The head of his cock inches from her sex, he bent his head and bit Bellatrix's neck. She screeched in surprise, and lifted her pelvis closer to Snape's. Snape reached a hand down and, closing his eyes, slid inside her.

Together, they moaned. She took her hands to his arms as Snape began to move in and out of her. Her sex was slippery and warm, and the pressure around Snape's penis made him shiver with pleasure. He closed his eyes as he sped up, and felt Bellatrix moving her pelvis underneath him. Together, they created a rhythm, coming together and apart, then together again.

Bellatrix was breathing heavy and moaning, and her fingernails dug into Snape's arms. He shifted and grabbed her hands, then pinned them to the floor next to her head. She let out a shriek and started to squirm under him, saying "Yes, Sev! Fuck me for the Dark Lord!" Bile rose in Snape's throat at the mention of their master, and he brought his anger into their sex.

Abruptly, he started to fuck her harder. Pounding his pelvis into hers, his cock pressing on her cervix with each thrust. Bellatrix's breath sped up to match Snape's movement, and Snape moaned deeply with every motion. He felt her vagina constrict around him and watched her breasts bounce up and down. She wriggled a hand out of Snape's grip and brought it between her legs, rubbing her clit as Snape continued to fuck her.

"Yes, Snape!" she screeched. "Yes, fuck me harder!" Snape obliged, and felt his orgasm begin to rise. Bellatrix was nearing an orgasm as well, her breath becoming choppy and quick. She rubbed her clit harder as Snape pounded her, and finally, she stopped breathing completely and her face froze, mouth open. Her breasts bounced as she rubbed herself, and finally let her breath go, She screamed, and her body convulsed. She wrapped her legs around Snape's body to pull him deeper inside her and panted like her life depended on it.

And again, Snape was disgusted. More with himself than he was with her, but seeing her face wasn't helping matters. His cock throbbed, but he couldn't- no, he wouldn't cum staring at her face.

Abruptly, he pulled out of her, and she squealed. He grabbed one of her arms and pulled her up to stand. Then he turned her face away from him and threw her toward the desk. She fell forward onto it and bent double, her top half lying on the pieces of parchment scattered across it.

He stepped toward her, his erection swinging side to side. Her skirt had fallen to cover her lower half once again, but this time it was Snape who lifted it up. Bellatrix turned to face him, a malicious grin on her face. Snape held up his hand and spanked her bottom as hard as he could, and she screamed.

"Again!" And Snape obliged. The slap echoed in the room, sounding like a thunderclap along with the rain. She turned forward and screamed again, and pounded her fist on the table.

"Do you like that, you fucking bitch?" Snape growled at her. Bellatrix whimpered.

"Yes! Slap me again, Master," she begged. Snape did. "Again, my Lord!" Snape slapped her again. With each slap on her ass, Bellatrix screeched, and Snape couldn't decide if he loved hurting her or hated it. He did know one thing, though: he hated her, especially right now.

Snape slid his cock inside her once again, and she gasped. As long as he didn't have to see her face again it would be fine, he thought. He grabbed her hips and started pounding into her, letting his hatred take over. Bellatrix clutched the edge of the desk, her knuckles white. She turned to face Snape, but he grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled it toward him, wrenching her head back and forcing her gaze forward. She bent her back toward him, all the while yelling, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The contents of the desk rattled and scattered. Their wands fell to the floor with a clatter. Snape pushed her forward again and she clutched at the desk. "Yes, my Lord!" she screeched. "Yes, my Dark Lord!"

Her Dark Lord? With a jolt, Snape realized that Bellatrix was imagining Voldemort behind her, pounding into her. He felt a surge of hatred and spanked her again, as hard as she could. "Fuck! My Lord, fuck!"

But he had to finish. He had to, or she would tell their master. Staring down at her back, he realized that if she could wish for someone else to be here, he could make her be anyone as well. And of course, there was only one person Snape wanted to fuck.

He closed his eyes and continued to thrust into her, but in his mind's eye envisioned smooth red hair instead of tangled black. Bellatrix's screeches turned into alto moans, the kind he imagined that Lily Evans must make. He heard her say, Yes, Severus! Please, Severus! and I love you, Severus!

Snape began to moan louder, and felt his orgasm rising again. He was going to do it. He was going to cum inside the woman he loved. The woman he had always loved. And she wanted it. She needed it. And his breath caught. His hands clenched on her hips. The pressure built and built until finally, and with an enormous convulsion from Snape's pelvis, he exploded inside of her.

With everything he had, he kept thrusting, legs shaking, a moan waiting to escape his mouth once he could finally breathe again. And then, he let it out.

"OOOOOOOOOOooooohhhhhhhhhhhh…." he bent over double, and his penis slid out of the woman. His heart raced, and his breath was ragged, and his body had lost the ability to stand up on its own.

He leaned forward over the woman and let his whole weight fall on her. He heard a voice saying, "There, there. Good boy. Good boy, Severus." His face was buried in her hair. In that beautiful hair. In his head, he replied, Oh fuck. Fuck, Lily…

The woman froze underneath him.

"...What?"

Bellatrix lurched backward and threw Snape's body from her. He fell backward onto his rump, and the jolt woke him back up.

"The Potter girl?" Bellatrix screeched, and Snape realized he hadn't replied in his head. He could still feel her name on his tongue, and knew he'd spoken it out loud.

Bellatrix lunged toward the desk, reaching desperately for something. Her wand, Snape suddenly knew. But he'd heard them fall to the floor, and Snape dove to the ground. Bellatrix realized the wands were on the floor at the same time, and she dove down as well. The two scuffled, digging around through the parchment and rubbish that had fallen with the wands until one of them moved something that sounded like wood rolling on wood.

Snape saw his wand and lunged toward it. Bellatrix lunged in a different direction. Snape's hand wrapped around his wand and he turned to see the tip of Bella's already pointed at him.

"Petrificus Tota-" she began, but Snape was quicker.

"Obliviate!" A pale jet of golden light hit Bellatrix square in the chest, and Snape watched her eyes fog over. Memories that were not his own flooded his mind. Images of himself from Bella's eyes scrambling on the floor, moving in reverse. He saw himself fall from the ground, and heard himself saying Lily's name.

He had to stop it. He couldn't erase the whole memory. Voldemort had to know that Bellatrix had done her job. But the memories were coming too fast, and Snape heard his orgasm as Bellatrix's eyes watched the wall behind the desk. The image shook as he fucked her, and he saw the moment he had wrenched Bellatrix's head up.

Finally, he was able to release the spell. He lowered his wand and slunk back onto his heels, exhausted. Bellatrix's eyes were still fogged, and she had begun to sway topless on the spot. Snape tossed his wand to the side and brushed the hair out of his eyes, breathing heavy.

After a moment, clarity seemed to return to Bellatrix's face. She blinked, shook her head, and looked confusedly down at her hand, still holding her wand. She set it down on the desk and turned to Snape.

"Well," she said matter-of-factly. "That's done, then." She stooped down and picked up her panties, sliding them over her boots and up her legs. She picked up her corset next and wrapped it around her. She continued to dress in silence while Snape was seemingly stuck to the floor. His limbs felt useless as he watched her clasp the corset and put her cardigan back on.

"I have to say, I expected more from you," she continued. "Did you even cum?" Snape let out an unintelligible grunt, which he hoped sounded affirmative. Bellatrix huffed, then started to walk toward the entryway. "Perhaps I was too much for you," she said as she reached the end of the room. "Either way, the Dark Lord will be pleased. Severus."

Snape listened to her footsteps echo down the short hallway. He heard the door open and the sound of rain increase for a moment before the door closed again. Snape paused for a moment, trying to reconcile to himself what had just happened. Then, realizing it was for naught, slunk back onto the ground, still fully nude, and fell into a deep, restless sleep.