He let his mind wander as the Dark Lord lapsed into silence. The others, realizing their dismissal, began to group together and plan the attack. He was going over what Lord Voldemort had told them to do: they were to find three Muggle children and present them to the Dark Lord. A muscle twitched in his jaw; he did not like the idea of harming innocent children, Muggle or not. He glanced at behind him at Avery, Malfoy, and the rest of the lot. They were laughing, probably amused at the prospect of whatever the Dark Lord planned to do to his victims.
"Snape, get over here," growled a female voice. He let his mind return to the task at hand: finding three relatively unimportant children. The Death Eaters discussed where to get the children and eventually, after a spirited debate between Lestrange and Goyle, decided on a location. They would Apperate to the outskirts of Derbyshire and split up into pairs to scour the town for three young children. With that decided, the masked men looked towards their Lord for approval. The pale, snakelike man nodded, an odd smile playing around his lips. With a variation of cracks and pops, the Death eaters left the old graveyard and, after several seconds of what felt like being squeezed through a straw, arrived in Derbyshire.
Severus Snape took a deep breath of the slightly polluted night air and set off towards the town hall, accompanied by McNair. Snape took point as they walked through the darkened streets. He and McNair looked through rubbish bins, peered through windows, and walked through the front gardens of the slightly run-down houses and flats.
Finally, after what seemed like the thousandth house, Macnair tapped Snape's shoulder, causing him to start. He began to reprimand the younger man quite loudly till the other Death Eater clapped a hand over Snape's mouth and said "Shut it, you idiot. Trying to wake the whole neighborhood, are yeh?" Snape, flabbergasted at the man's action, looked indignantly at masked man in front of him. "Touch me again," he began menacingly, "and I will hex you so severely that the Aurors send you to Azkaban in a matchbox." Macnair stepped back, giving the agitated man a few feet of space. "Well," he said, clearly annoyed, "not that we've got THAT out of the way, would you like to fetch the lovely children that reside in that little…erm, shack?"
Snape silently berated himself. He had wasted precious time lecturing his counterpart. The Dark Lord valued punctuality and would not be pleased if he heard that he had wasted time on such a trivial infraction. He shrugged himself out of his contemplation and began stalking towards the small shack, as Macnair had called it. It was one story, with about six rooms if his observations were correct. Snape suspected that the children's bedroom would be in the back of the house, away from the normally noisy street. Judging from the amount of toys lying around the front garden, there were two, possibly three, children under that age of eleven.
As Snape reached the shabby gate that surrounded the yellowed grass and weeds, he turned to his fellow Death Eater. "Tell the others to call off their search. Have them return to the graveyard and inform the Dark Lord that his children will arrive shortly." Macnair nodded and Disapperated to the pre-decided meeting place.
As the Death Eater pulled out his wand, preparing to magically unlock the wooden door, he paused. He struggled with his conscience; killing innocent children was definitely NOT something he would have liked to do. Unfortunately, in order to continue the illusion that he was still loyal to the Dark Lord, he had to bow to Lord Voldemort's every whim, even if it compromised his morals.
He sighed and buried his emotions deep inside the shell that he had created during his school days when the idiotic Maurders had tortured him every day for seven long years. His face set and voice absolutely deadpan, Snape hissed "Alohomora" into the frigid air. His wand light for a moment and the metal lock clicked. The black clad man pushed the door open with his foot and silently crept into the front room.
It was a scantily clad living room, probably used for entertaing. There was a green couch, spotted black with mold, a low backed sitting chair, and an oak coffee table. It was scratched and stained with crayon. Its primary use was obviously to oblige the children's colouring needs. There was a shabby rug in front of a curtained window that faced the street and a small book case in the corner. Snape moved on, creeping further into "enemy" territory.
The next room was a formal dining room. It held a small, rectangular table with four chairs gathered around it. There were a few family portraits hung on the walls. He quietly ambled towards the nearest and examined it. The photograph showed four people: a woman and three children. The woman looked about forty, with a slightly pinched face and graying hair. She was smiling weekly. The oldest of the children was a boy of about nine. He had sandy blonde hair and dark brown eyes. He was grinning, revealing a gapped and uneven set of teeth. The next child was a girl of five or six. She, like her elder brother, had sandy hair. Her eyes were slightly masked by a set of round rimmed glasses and the corners of her lips were slightly upturned. The youngest child was another boy. He looked no older than four. He looked nothing like his sibling and, therefore, Snape concluded, was adopted. His skin was tanned, indicating he was from Mexican dissent. He had spiky black hair and sparkling blue eyes. He held an object in his hand and was laughing manically at it. This must have been what his sister was smiling at, thought Snape. Over all, it looked like a happy family, despite the obvious fact the father was absent not only from this picture, but all of the others as well. Snape felt a pang of guilt slip through his emotional armor.
He quickly shook it off and passed through the kitchen on his way to the bedrooms and lavatory. He reached the children's room first. He pointed his wand at the mother's room and whispered "Muffilto." He did not want the mother to overhear the kidnapping of her offspring. He eased the paneled door open and slipped inside. There was a bunk bed and single bed crammed into the tiny room. The remaining space was taken up by a pile of stuffed animals and action figures. He moved stealthily around the heap and to the side of the girl's bed. He cast "Petrificus Totalus" and watched her eyes open and darted fearfully around the room. The fixed on him and widened in terror. He slipped into his Death Eater persona and smiled menacingly. Snape then moved on to the boys. He cast the spell twice and, within the space of five minutes, had the tree children floating after him. As he moved towards the front door, he glanced behind him at the mother's room. He gritted his teeth and internally apologized to the woman whose life was about to be turned upside down.
He led the boys and girl out the front door and re-locked it. It would appear that the kids had simply disappeared into thin air. He gasped suddenly and clutched his left forearm. It was burning like a miniature volcano had erupted just beneath his sallow skin. The Dark Lord was growing impatient. Hopefully, he would be in a forgiving mood after he received his prize. Snape grabbed each of the children by an arm or shirt collar and Apperated back to the cemetery.
The world swam back into view and he was greeted to the quiet (and probably sarcastic) clapping of one of the most terrible wizards of all time. The snakelike mouth curled into a malevolent smile and he stood. He gestured with his fingers and the petrified children began gliding towards him. He then motioned Snape to the center of the circle of Death Eaters.
He walked with his head respectfully lowered into the center of the group. Lord Voldemort surveyed him and opened his thin, lipless mouth. "You have done well, Severus Snape. You have brought me three young children. It appears that you have done everything that has been requested of you." He paused and smiled. "Well done, my loyal servant."
Snape froze. Such high praise from his Lordship was rare, indeed. He bowed and murmured his thanks. Snape then stepped back into his place in the circle. The Dark Lord's attention then turned to the three terrified figures hovering some four feet off the ground. His smile grew cold and twisted he jerked his wand and the children fell to the ground, still paralyzed. He eyes them each, and, making a decision, waved his wand at the oldest. He rose into the air and turned to face Lord Voldemort. His brown eyes which had been darting in every direction moment ago were no focused on the pale man in front of him.
The Dark Lord moved closer to the boy and began to whisper into his ear. The eight year olds eyes widened and his respiration rate increased. When the boy seemed sufficiently panicked, Lord Voldemort released him from his paralysis and instead cast a spell which bound and gagged him with ropes. He then repeated this ritual with the remaining two children.
With the Muggles now struggling against their ropes, the Dark Lord turned to his followers. "Do with them what you wish, just make sure it is painful. Oh, and Severus? When you're finished with them, slit their wrists." Snape's mouth fell open, but he closed it quickly, hoping that the Dark Lord had not noticed. He walked a few steps and then Disapperated to who knew where. Snape didn't really care anymore. The mere thought of making someone, never mind three CHILDREN bled to death was…was… barbaric! He stood there for a few minutes in shock. He knew that he could not avoid it, but that did not mean that he wanted to perform it.
It was the screams that brought Severus Snape back to reality. They were high and terrified. He heard numerous yells of "Crucio!" and the shark whacks of clubs bashing against the children's fragile bodies. He heard bones snap, followed by cries of agony. He knew what
Muggle beating where like. His own father, Tobias Snape, had been a Muggle; a particularly cruel one, at that. It had been no secret in the Snape household that his father disliked him and his mother. Fights were a regular occurrence as were brutal beatings. The Muggle police had been summoned by neighbors numerous times. That had only resulted in more beatings. He also knew the agony on the Cruciatus curse. It stimulated the pain center of the brain. It made the person on the receiving end of the spell feel unbearable agony. Many lost their minds while subjected to it.
Nearly three hours later, the screams had drifted off into whimpers and hysterical laughter. The girl had gone mad and the two boys were unconscious. The other Death Eater had grown tired of this game and had begun to Disapperate. Snape, charged with ending the children's lives, had stayed behind. He sat on a rock with his mask and cloak piled on the ground beside him. The man sighed and got up with a silver knife in his right hand. He walked up to the girl first. He cast a few spells on her to silence her laughter and decrease the amount of pain she would soon feel. He held out her wrists and, taking a deep, hollow sounding breath, sliced through to flesh, fat, and muscle, severing the artery. Blood spurted everywhere and her screaming reverberated through the air. He left her and moved onto the youngest and repeated the exercise. His cries were much louder, but he was soon silenced by the merciful grasp of death. By the time Snape reached the oldest boy, he had tears sliding down his pale face. He was nauseous and horrified at what he had done. But there was no turning back; if he did not carry out his task, he would be branded a traitor and killed. He knelt over the sandy haired eight year old who was staring at him, eyes filled with shock. "How could you? What did we ever do to you? How could you kill them?"
Snape had no answer for him and sliced through the soft tissue. This child was different, though. He didn't scream, just clenched his teeth. He stared at the murderer who had killed his siblings in front of him. With the boys dying breath he whispered "You'll never forget. Never." And with that, he died.
Snape sat for a while, drenched in blood. After a few hours, he grabbed his Death Eater garbs and Disapperated. He arrived at his small house on Spinner's End and sank into bed, completely exhausted.
Severus Snape sat bolt upright on his cot. He had had a nightmare. He shuddered and thought to himself "It's only a dream. It was only a dream, Severus." He ran his hands through his hair and realized they were wet. "What the…" He grabbed his wand from his nightstand and said "Lumos." His hands were stained dark red. He dropped his wand and stared, horrified at his fingers. "No," he whispered. "It was only a dream. It can't have been real…"
But it was.