A/N: Severus returns home after a long night to find someone in his living room. Bellatrix/Severus.
Submission for:
Marauders Era Oneshot Competition: Bellatrix/Severus
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
He appeared in the depressing darkness of his living room, barely having enough strength to keep his eyes open before he fell into an old tattered armchair. He let out an exhausted groan as he ran a heavy hand over his eyelids. He felt like a pawn moving between the white and the black, while trying to keep both sides satisfied.
He opened his eyes, staring into the darkness at two shining spots before he sat up suddenly and drew his wand. Those spots were actually eyes, very familiar eyes. Though dark, they held a mad spark of life. Beneath them, red lips curled, well-known for their ability to draw in weaker men to her poisonous bite.
"Oh, you've finally seen me," the woman said as she stepped out of the shadows, the boards beneath her feet creaking under her weight as she came towards him.
"How did you get in here?" he said as he began to rise from his seat, his eyes never leaving hers, his wand aimed right at her chest. He had used the best wards against his home, even some he had developed himself. No one should have been able to get in her without his knowledge.
"I've learned a thing or two during my many years, Severus," the woman said as she stopped before him, pushing him back into the chair with a shove. "Though some were harder to get through." She brought her hand into the dim light filtering to the boarded windows, the crimson liquid leaking out of a gash in her palm. She ran her tongue across the trail and swallowed. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I suppose."
"Why are you here?" he asked, watching as the blood began to pool again and drip onto the floor.
"You weren't at the meeting tonight," she said.
"I did not know you were so concerned about my absence, Bellatrix," he said.
"I am when it concerns our Lord," she said. Then she leaned in, the smell of smoke and iron filling his nose as she whispered, "I know your secret, Severus."
He brought his hand to her shoulder and pushed her away. "If you knew as much as you thought you did, you would know that the Dark Lord knows about my absence as well."
"I am not talking about being Dumbledore's little pet," she said with a wide grin. "I'm talking about you, Severus, the real you. I've been watching you, closer than you think. You hold no loyalty to either master. You're playing your own game by your own rules, and both men are none the wiser. But I am."
He was before her in two strides, his wand at her throat as her back was pressed against the wall. He bared his teeth as he said, "You know nothing of my loyalties."
The woman let out a loud cackle, the sound echoing off the bare walls before she said, "Oh, but I do." Then she brought a finger to his chin, her black-polished nail tracing a red line across his jaw. "But we can make a deal. You see, I'm in need of a new plaything. The old one has... expired."
"You will get nothing," he said, jabbing the wand deeper against her throat.
Her mouth turned down into an exaggerated frown. "Then I will just have to find out what our Lord thinks about your... indiscretion."
He frowned. He had been so careful for so many years. He still wasn't sure she had anything on him, but she was known to be dangerous and unpredictable. No one fully knew what she knew, and he was not sure he could take the chance.
With a frustrated noise, he brought his wand back to his side, looking away from the cocky grin across her face.
"I'll be back here tomorrow to discuss a few things about our arrangement. Please allow me access. I wouldn't want to have to go through again what I did tonight," she said, pressing her lips against the corner of his mouth, before she disappeared with a pop.
He stared down at the small pools she had left behind shining in the light. Of all the things to happen tonight, Severus never thought he would become Bellatrix Lestrange's newest toy.