I originally conceived this as background information for "Rowan's Secret". It grew too large for a flashback, three chapters. It also has a very different tone from that story so I decided to post it on its own.
The lemony bits are not terribly explicit, as these things go, but Bellatrix is one really disturbing witch. You have been warned.
Thanks to Verity for beta reading, I hope I didn't wear out your fan.
Chapter 1: A Surprise Visitor
It was late. Severus had a heavy course-load, even for a seventh-year, and he took his studies seriously. His roommates were already in bed asleep, he noted, as he climbed into his four-poster bed and drew the heavy green curtains closed.
Another evening spent trying to concentrate in the library, forced to swallow bile while he ignored Potter and Evans snogging between the stacks. What did she see in that cretin anyway?
Finally he had some privacy, and could take care of his inevitable problem so he could get to sleep. Severus waved his wand and cast a silencing charm on the bed, and an imperturbable one on the curtains. He really didn't want any of his roommates to hear a telltale sound, or come over and annoy him, if one happened to be awake.
Assured of his privacy, Severus took matters in hand, all the while envisioning a certain pair of startling green eyes, and imagining all the charms that went with them.
Just as events were approaching their climax, Severus was startled by a heavy weight dropping onto the bed by his feet. His eyes snapped open as he dropped what he was doing and grabbed his wand. It was a girl, no -- a woman, and he knew her. Dark haired, heavy lidded, lushly curved; Bellatrix Black.
What was she doing here? Two years older, she'd pretty well ignored him while she was still at school. Now she was betrothed to Rodolphus Lestrange, the standard matching of wealthy purebloods. They seemed suited to each other though, which again begged the question: what is she doing here?
Severus pulled down his nightshirt and kept his wand aimed at the woman. "What are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously, trying to slow his breathing. Beautiful young women did not mysteriously appear in your bed, just when you could really use one -- not in any Snape-based reality.
Bellatrix laughed. "Put that thing down, Severus. If I were going to curse you, you'd already be screaming."
She did have a point, Severus thought, sitting up and lowering the wand. "How did you get here?"
"Portkey," she answered smugly.
"You can make those? to somewhere you've never been?" Severus was impressed, despite himself.
"What makes you think I've never been here?" Bellatrix laughed again. Her laugh was disturbing, as if her notion of humor was pretty distant from the rest of witch-kind.
Likely true, Severus thought, if rumor had any basis. Still an accomplishment: making Portkeys wasn't easy. "So again, why are you here?"
"I came to see you."
"Obviously," Severus sneered. "And you got quite an eyeful. Didn't see enough down by the lake two years ago?" Merlin's balls! What on earth made me remind her of that incident? I must be twice the idiot she thinks me.
"You were still a boy then. But you definitely showed ... potential. Which you appear to be living up to," Bellatrix said, her toungue darting out to lick her lower lip. Severus' breath caught in his throat.
"Rumor has it," Bellatrix continued, "you know a lot of curses. Is it true?"
Severus' left eyebrow rose. Was there such a rumor? It was true, of course, but he hadn't realized people were talking. "Yes, I know quite a few more than I generally let on." Don't tell me she's come here for Dark Magic lessons? From what I've heard, she could be teaching at Durmstrang.
Bellatrix leaned forward onto her hands and leaned close to Severus. She brought her full lips close to his ear and asked in a low, dusky voice that sent a shiver through him: "Have you ever tried an Unforgivable?"
Severus had been just at the edge of release when Bellatrix had appeared, and her close proximity wasn't making matters any easier on him. He smelled her scent; she wore no perfume, just her own heated aroma. He desperately wished he could tell her what he knew she wanted to hear, but he had a canny feeling she would detect a lie. "No, I've never tried one."
"I could teach you," she answered, "if you're man enough to learn."
Severus hissed, this time in shock. He wasn't so surprised that she knew the Unforgivables, but she'd teach him? It was too good a chance to miss; he only wished he knew what she was after.
"Why?" he asked suspiciously.
"You are going to be a very powerful wizard, Severus. Someone I know thinks you could go very far, if only you learn to dispense..." Bellatrix unclasped the front of her robe, "with certain..." which slipped from her shoulders, "inhibitions..." She was completely nude underneath. Severus' eyes widened and it took all the control he could muster to keep from just grabbing her.
"Shall I start the first lesson?" she asked seductively.
"Yes," Severus managed to groan in answer.
"Imperio!" Bellatrix snapped.
Suddenly Severus felt wholly relaxed, almost carefree. There was a helpful voice in his head suggesting exactly what he should be doing. It was so nice to just listen to the voice, and not have to think for himself. Bella wouldn't laugh at him, he wouldn't do anything wrong, as long as he just obeyed that voice.
How easy it was. She leaned back and allowed him to touch her. He stroked her and sighed. He kissed her body, she tasted salty. Following that voice, he moved lower.
Severus was good at following instructions; in a short time, Bella shrieked her release. She knew the bed would be silenced, or she didn't give a damn.
When she caught her breath, Bellatrix sat up and slid her robe back on, deftly slipping her wand and hand through the sleeve without loosening her grip.
"Finite Incantatem," she said, caressing Severus with the end of her wand and her now husky voice.
The curse was released and his free will came rushing back. Severus sat up and looked at Bellatrix, shocked both at what she had made him do, and how easily he had gone under her control. Clearly she had had plenty of practice at that spell. Bellatrix was a very, very dangerous woman.
She was flushed and breathing hard, the very image of satisfied female, but Severus had the distinct feeling he had disappointed.
This notion was reinforced when Bellatrix said coolly, "That was most amusing Severus, but next time, try to fight it. If I'd wanted a Squib, I'd go screw Filch. At least he has whips." With that disheartening speech, she touched an item in her pocket and vanished from the bed. She left an aching and disturbed Severus wondering what the hell that had all been about. Still, he was intrigued at the promise of a next time, and vowed things would go differently.
Severus spent his free time over the next several days haunting the restricted section. As a N.E.W.T. level Defense Against the Dark Arts student, he had free access. That was, after all, the main purpose those books were kept at Hogwarts. Bellatrix was a living, breathing Dark Art, and Severus had better learn to defend himself. He studied assiduously everything he could find about the Imperius Curse, especially anything about how to fight it. Severus had always been a bright student, with a particular interest in the Dark Arts, but now he was seriously motivated.
The trick, according to the texts, was to find that other voice. The one that said why would I want to do that? No, I don't think I will. Listen for the obstinate voice, learn to identify it from the soothing, seductive spell voice. He didn't remember even a whisper of that voice when Bella had cursed him that time. Of course, she'd 'forced' him to do something he was pretty well willing to in the first place. Maybe that kept the other voice quiet.
The problem with Unforgivable curses was finding someone to practice them with. Imperio was the easiest, since it did no lasting damage, but finding a practice partner was nigh onto impossible. Slytherins all wanted to learn it and practice it, but none of them would let another cast it on them. Hard to blame them, who'd trust another Slytherin? And who else wanted to learn the Imperius Curse?
Severus certainly wouldn't have allowed Bellatrix to do it to him, if he'd had the foggiest notion that was what she planned. Of course, his thinking was pretty damned foggy at the time, and he'd bet his last Knut she knew that; had known it, when she Portkeyed to his bed at night.
A couple of weeks later, an owl arrived with a note for Severus while he was walking outside on the grounds. It said only: Meet me at the edge of the Forest, at midnight. Well, here's my chance, Severus thought. He hoped he had studied enough.
That night, he stayed in the library till closing, then instead of going back to the Slytherin dorm, he concealed himself behind a suit of armor in the entrance hall. Severus was everything that was shadowed and patient; waiting there was no hardship. Soon it was time to leave. He wrapped himself in his cloak and silenced his steps. A whispered unlocking charm on a side door, and he was slipping across the grounds to the Forest, wand at the ready.
If he had hoped to get the jump on Bellatrix, he might as well have wished for the moon. She had him screaming under the Cruciatus curse before he'd even known she was there. She let it up after only a couple of minutes -- but those had been two very, very long minutes. Still, as he'd writhed on the leaves of the forest floor, the analytical part of his mind was thinking aha, so that's how it works. He knew, now, he'd be able to cast the spell when he needed to.
Once again, Bellatrix put him under the Imperius Curse. This time she did it as soon as she'd lifted the Cruciatus, before he could even draw a breath to speak a spell. He tried to find that voice the books spoke of, the stubborn, uncooperative one. Hell, you'd think considering his normal personality, that wouldn't be so hard! Wait, there it was. Just a whisper at the very back of his mind. A grouchy, sullen voice that said "I won't."
Before he could latch onto that voice, it was drowned out by the soothing suggestion of the spell he was under. This is what you want anyway, the spell voice said. You want to please this beautiful, sexy woman. Just listen to me, I'll tell you exactly what to do...
When Bellatrix was through amusing herself with Severus, she released the curse and vanished silently into the Forest. Once again, she'd used him and left him frustrated and annoyed. Once again, he'd learned something from her; something he couldn't have learned anywhere else. She was strong, but he felt that he was stronger -- only her greater experience gave her the advantage over him. He was sure if he worked hard enough, he would be able to overcome her. Then he'd see how she liked being controlled.