Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: The following is set in an alternate universe in which Voldemort's hobbies include carrying out experiments on living subjects - and some of those experiments are entirely psychological. Apart from the brief '1976' lead-in, 'Asylum' is entirely from the viewpoint of Severus Snape - one who has not had Lily Evans in his life or thoughts for half a decade - and whose loyalty to the Death Eaters and Voldemort is consequently unshaken.

June, 1976

Lily had just disembarked from the Hogwarts Express, onto platform nine-and-three-quarters, when she felt a wand jab into the back of her neck, and heard the voice of an invisible man whisper into her ear.

"I don't think, mudblood, that you ever appreciated just what Severus did for you. But of course, since you have conclusively rejected him, his protection is now removed. You are an excellent way to send Albus Dumbledore a message."

And then she heard 'stupefy', and the nightmare commenced.

Her abandoned trunk was found on the platform several hours later, and her distraught parents contacted the school, but Lily Evans had disappeared without a trace.

November 1st, 1981

The inner-circle of the Death Eaters had met in emergency council. Given the dire circumstances, they were meeting somewhere the aurors would hopefully never look for them – a hastily hired and warded seedy backroom in a muggle working men's club in Northern England. The furnishings consisted of decrepit formica topped tables and chairs stuffed with foam rubber. The place reeked of stale beer and cigarette smoke, despite the best efforts of several of those attending to eliminate the smells with basic cleaning charms.

"The Dark Lord has fallen. Looks like the prophecy was right about the Longbottom boy." Dolohov said.

"Impossible. This must be some trick. Some treachery. That rat… that rat must have betrayed us somehow." Bellatrix was pacing frenetically. "I knew I should have accompanied our lord on his errand."

"With the Dark Lord gone, and the Ministry rallying, the tide of battle is turning." Lucius Malfoy frowned. "Perhaps we should start to make plans for a strategic surrender."

"The tide hasn't turned; it's a complete rout." Severus Snape sneered. "The Dark Lord built this organization on the foundation of his own personality and personal power. With his fall, the rank and file are defecting or fleeing in droves. There'll soon be enough traitors and turncoats testifying to try to save their own skins for the authorities to come after us. This war is lost. We need to start planning now to make sure that we win the next one. Their victory here – especially if it seems total enough – will make our enemies complacent and lazy. Give it a decade or two, and we'll have them, so long as we spend that time preparing. Dumbledore will get older and more frail, we should be able to get people into the ministry to guarantee government support or at least to run serious interference if we go for open warfare next time, and we can make sure the brotherhood of Death Eaters is more… robust… for the next struggle."

For a while they bickered, debated, and argued, and then they broke up, Bellatrix storming off to 'go and take some blood-traitors down', Lucius running for Gringotts and to take legal counsel, and various other members scattering in various directions.

Until, only Dolohov and Snape were left.

"I take it you have a reason to wish to speak to me in private?" the man who had been Voldemort's spymaster arched an eyebrow at Dolohov.

"What you said about preparing for the next war makes sense." Dolohov said. "And… I believe I have something incredibly valuable… a secret which the Dark Lord entrusted to me, personally. He had a private facility he called 'the asylum' where he experimented on mudbloods and blood-traitors we'd captured, if you'd like to accompany me in apparating there…"

Whilst Severus Snape found much of the 'work' that the Dark Lord had carried out in the outer chambers of the asylum rather tasteless, he did have to concede that it nonetheless displayed all the hallmarks of his twisted genius. The warped or broken bodies visible in cages or through the observation hatches in doors had clearly been affected by all manner of previously unknown or long forgotten dark magic.

As one went further in, the experiments became increasingly gruesome. The scars and physical alterations which had been carried out seemed to be more and more intentionally created artworks than actual purposeful experimentation. Dolohov looked pale at some of them, but Snape feigned mild interest. To tell the truth, the thought of the magic which must have been employed piqued his interest rather more than the implied torments which must have been endured revolted him.

The air actually smelt ridiculously fresh, despite the horrors and tortured wretches on display, and the chambers and passageways were relatively spotless. Either heavy duty magic or regular house-elf maintenance must be in constant use. In terms of hygiene, the place might as well be one of the very best muggle hospitals. Severus would not have been too surprised to come upon a house-elf with a bucket, a mop and a bar of carbolic soap sopping the floor around any corner, not that he did.

Dolohov produced a key-ring with heavy iron keys on, and opened a door without an observation hatch which led into a room furnished with a desk, bookshelves, and – oddly enough – muggle filing cabinets. There was another door let into the wall on the other side of the room, behind the desk, which was currently closed. Once they had entered this room Dolohov closed and locked the door they had just come through behind them, then pointed his wand at it, muttering a rapid spell.

"Okay, Severus, we're coming to the inner sanctum. He kept the experiments which mostly involved not physical tortures or transfigurations but the mind down here. The passage beyond the next door is booby-trapped like crazy, so be careful what you do and touch. Even I don't know how to disarm all the stuff he had down here. I do have to rearm and reset some stuff as we go forward, or Merlin knows what security measures will trigger."

Then Dolohov had secured the door they had just come through and headed across, wand and keys ready, to the door on the other side of the office where he started to fiddle around.

Severus browsed some of the books and published journals, whilst Dolohov sweated and muttered over the next door, and discovered that the Dark Lord had in fact apparently been a closet fan of muggle psychology. There was a copy of a paper on something called 'Stockholm Syndrome' spread on the desk, which was much thumbed, with various things underlined, scribbled, or heavily annotated by the Dark Lord. If they hadn't tried to lock him up for the means he'd used to research it, Severus Snape suspected that the Dark Lord could have won some of the top muggle prizes for science if he'd presented his thoughts to the muggles. Ahh, irony…

"The locks are trapped too, I take it?" Severus enquired, as Dolohov finished with the door leading out of the other side of the office, and swung it open.

"Of course. There are two sets of keys, and there was a master key the Dark Lord crafted of ice whose existence was tied to his life force. When whatever happened to him last night happened, the latter would have melted to nothing. That just leaves my partial set, which will get me in and out, and the full set held by the mistress of the asylum. Watch her temper by the way. She seems as sweet as anything, usually, but when she's in a rage she has a Cruciatus to match any the Dark Lord ever cast."

There followed a further sterile-scented corridor, this one almost so spick and span that the floor gleamed. The hairs on the back of Severus' neck began to prickle, as they walked with cages on either side, most empty, but some with animals in, or even the odd human who'd supposedly disappeared, presumed dead, during a Death Eater raid over the past decade. The way that this was playing out, it seemed to him to have the air of some kind of trap, or test of loyalty. After several years of loyal service, he would have hoped that he had gotten past the stage where he was subjected to this kind of trial, but then again, he supposed, he had delivered the first half of the prophecy which had sent the Dark Lord to meet the Longbottoms – he had to concede that under these circumstances, had he been an objective outsider he himself would have given his loyalties at least a cursory inspection.

Several times in the walk down this corridor Dolohov signalled Severus to stop and did so himself to wave his wand and mutter something that brought sparks of magic to the tip of his wand – which presumably had to do with those booby-traps he'd mentioned. From the nervous sheen of moisture that gathered on Dolohov's brow each time he performed such magic, Severus could only presume that the consequences of not dealing with these security measures correctly could be dire indeed.

Then finally they reached a gate, of goblin-wrought steel, which Dolohov unlocked, and ushered Severus through, then followed, closing and locking it behind them. Beyond the gate there was a short stretch of corridor with no further cages nor pauses by Dolohov for wand-waving, then the way forward rounded a corner, narrowed, went down some steps, and ended in a wooden door. There was a lock with a brass plate etched with serpentine patterns set in this door, but Severus noticed Dolohov did not pull a key out. Instead he rapped on the door smartly, and called out: "It's me, ma'am".

There was a short pause, and then the rattle of a key in the lock from the other side, and then the door swung open inwards and a face peered out.

"Anthony?" the owner of the face frowned. "Something's happened to him, hasn't it?"

"Something went wrong with the attack on the Longbottoms, ma'am." Severus was vaguely aware of Dolohov saying in the background. A part of his mind had noted that Dolohov had just been called 'Anthony', even though Dolohov's first name was actually Antonin. Most of his mind, though, was occupied with the fact that the green eyes and unruly red hair of the woman at the door were rather reminiscent of the Hogwarts student, Lily Evans, who had disappeared from platform nine-and-three-quarters somewhat over five years ago – at the end of the school year she had declared her friendship with Severus over following the incident by the lake. "Early word out of the auror office is that the Longbottom boy has the power to make killing curses rebound." Dolohov was continuing. "If it's true, that must have taken the Dark Lord by surprise."

"Okay, that definitely sounds like 'power the Dark Lord knows not'." the woman said. "I told him he ought to try and get hold of the whole prophecy, before doing anything, but he was always so masterful and impetuous…" She sniffed slightly, and for a moment seemed to be actually blinking away something that could have been tears.

"Lily. Without him, panic's setting in, and everything's falling to pieces." Dolohov said. "People are ratting out to the aurors already. I've brought Severus Snape to see you, so we can decide what to do next. It's what he would have wanted."

"You are so right Anthony." she said. She opened the door further, and gave Dolohov a little hug, then stepped back and inside out of sight. "Come on in, both of you."

Severus was pretty certain that there had been a lot more said in the conversation which had just taken place than the obvious. He made sure his wand was carefully sheathed, and that he was as appropriately readied as he would be if he was walking into the presence of the Dark Lord himself, and then walked in after Dolohov. Lily was covering him with a wand as he passed through the door. It looked to be crafted of holly, and seemed almost tangibly malevolent.

"Follow Anthony." she indicated to Severus with a jerk of her wand, closing and locking the door behind them.

The set of rooms beyond in the depths of the asylum were carpeted, well lit, and comfortably furnished. There were incongruities such as wooden building blocks, scattered around the floor of one room, and bookshelves full of some of the most dreadful and potent tomes of dark magic Severus had ever heard about.

There were children present, somewhere, Severus was sure, behind some of the closed doors. He thought he caught a muffled squeal of laughter.

Dolohov led him into a sitting room and sank into a plush sofa, making himself at home. Severus settled for a harder, wooden backed chair. There was a grey quartz bowl of water on a low coffee table, he noted, with several roses floating in it, which scented the air.

He was pretty certain, by now that this was – or at least had been – Lily Evans. There was enough familiar about her accent and the way she moved for him to be certain of that.

He didn't dare attempt legilimency upon her though, and he noted an unmistakeably goblin-steel ring crafted in the shape of two twined snakes upon the ring finger of her left hand.

She sat herself down in a position where she could continue to cover Severus with the holly wand.

"So, you're Severus Snape, Thomas' spy master." she said. "I gather that Thomas left instructions that if anything happened to him, you were to become the custodian of this place and the inmates."

He noticed she apparently referred to the Dark Lord as 'Thomas' even though the Dark Lord's given name had been Lord Voldemort – though his birth name had been Tom Marvolo Riddle, Severus knew for a fact.

Severus closed his eyes for a moment, and thought, hard, then opened them again.

"I don't have much information to work on, here, but would you know if any of the children might be parselmouths?"

"Hailey Foxglove, the eldest, certainly seems to be showing signs." Lily looked amused and impressed by this calculated stab in the dark of Severus'.

"Right. Well priority, in this context, should, in my opinion, be directed towards maintaining the security of Salazar's bloodline, including ensuring that it does not fall into enemy hands." The Dark Lord had made a good deal of his claim to descent from Salazar Slytherin, and his own parselmouth abilities, so Severus felt on fairly safe ground here. "All people who know about this place and Salazar's descendents who do not absolutely have to know, should be killed or obliviated, myself potentially included, although obviously I would prefer to be obliviated. If more secure accommodation is available elsewhere, this place must be evacuated and as close to destroyed, internally, as possible – totally destroyed if that can be done without drawing undue attention to its ever having existed, of course. Any financial arrangements in place to ensure the well-being of Salazar's descendents should be thoroughly vetted too, to check for possible leaks, and alternative channels for funds put in place if necessary. All documents pertaining to the existence of the children which it is essential continue to exist should be lodged somewhere at least as secure as a Gringott's high security vault. More obliviations – or unbreakable oaths – may be necessary when dealing with the goblins. Finally, I would recommend a raid on the library of House Black, if texts are not already available here, as they are an old and very careful family with a knowledge of many magics including a wide range of warding spells. Without knowing specific details, that's the best that I can advise, under the circumstances."

"That seems… a little passive." Lily cocked her head on one side. "Still, it shows your heart and loyalties are in the right place. Dear Thomas would probably give you a pass on it, so who am I to quibble? Arms out please, and bared – the marked ones."

Dolohov and Severus obliged, and Lily proceeded to Severus first and waved her wand over his offered arm. The agony and fire which engulfed Severus' arm was as awful as it was terrifying. He clenched his teeth and made no sound. He noticed Lily heading over to Dolohov and repeating the procedure, though Dolohov gave a hiss of pain as she did so, and Severus was vaguely aware of Lily making a slightly disappointed sound.

Gradually, the pain subsided, and Severus looked at his painfully throbbing arm. The pale outline of the dark mark was now gone, replace by a black tattoo of a griffon. He gingerly flexed his arm, several times, to get the circulation going again properly.

"You have now both been seconded to the Knights of Morgana, my own personal elite servants." Lily continued. "Don't worry: Thomas said I have permission to keep my own retinue, separate from the Death Eaters. You are now mine, until such time as I choose to relinquish your services – and since you aren't dark-marked any more, that should make things easier for you if the Wizengamot has you up for questioning. Everyone 'knows' that the dark mark is nearly impossible to remove or alter, after all." She paused. "So: cup of tea, perhaps, and time for you to meet the children?"

Back in Spinner's End, some time later, Severus Snape sank into a chair and poured himself a generous glass of brandy. The morning had been rather trying, and he was going to have to turn in to bed shortly. Dolohov had said something to him on the way out of the asylum: She masters the dark arts faster and more ably than the Dark Lord himself.

Dolohov didn't understand why. Severus did. He closed his eyes and recalled the office with the shelves of books, including a couple of ones of religious creation myths, and the papers on the desk. He had trained himself to have a photographic memory – always a useful skill for a spy – and he could see in his mind's eye the notes the Dark Lord had scribbled in the margins and between the paragraphs. They had included one which read: The greatest of demons are fallen angels?

For all her Marauder-loving, bully-boy supporting, hypocritical smug self-righteousness, Lily Evans had once had a purity and innocence the Dark Lord had almost certainly never possessed, and in her fall from grace her capacity for the dark arts was that much greater.

Author Notes:

Originally, this story started out because there didn't seem to me to be much Voldemort/Lily fanfiction out there, but (canon) Voldemort didn't exactly strike me as a type to romance a girl with roses and fine verse to win her affection. A captor/captive relationship where he was investigating Stockholm Syndrome seemed to me at the time to be the most likely way a Voldemort/Lily relationship would come about, and 'Asylum' is the result.

From Voldemort's point of view, up until October 31st 1981, the relationship has been purely about experimentation, and seeing how he can manipulate/twist a subject. Lily was a muggle-born after all. He wouldn't ordinarily do anything other than torture her to death for fun. 'Marrying' her was all part of the button-pushing process, and in time any children who did not live up to his standards would have been disposed of, whilst backgrounds would have been invented to introduce any to Death Eater society who did please him. She has been his darkest and best guarded secret, because her existence did not fit in with the image he wished to project of himself. Outside the chambers of the Asylum, only himself and Dolohov knew she existed. Ironically though, given that she was his greatest experiment (and so well protected) the ring she wears is in this universe his final deliberately created horcrux (no Nagini).

Voldemort not having explained his plans or the depth of his thinking to Dolohov, though, Dolohov assumed Lily (and the children) were important to Voldemort in a completely erroneous way, and that following Voldemort's fall she is his most trusted lieutenant and secret-weapon who can step in and lead the rebuilding of the Death Eaters and the cause. And without question, this Lily is unreasoningly subservient and devoted to Voldemort and his cause after years of his mental manipulations, even if her sanity levels are on a par with Bellatrix's. (Although her subservience and devotion to 'Thomas' aside, when this Lily isn't angry, she's probably much calmer and more rational than Bellatrix.)

Voldemort trained this universe's Lily in the dark arts to see just how far he could get her to go, once he'd succeeded in snapping her mind. The wand which she carries is the 'brother wand' to Voldemort's own (the one which in canon Harry ends up with). It amused Voldemort to check if such a thing existed to outfit his 'consort' with, and when he discovered it did, he took steps to forcibly obtain it. It functions for Lily beause of the deep ties and connections she has with Voldemort. Lily's original willow wand likely didn't last past the first hour or two of her captivity.