Viventibus Mortem

This is one of those really short chapters (^.^')...sorry...

I so wish I could own Lucius Malfoy, oh the fun we could have! However, I do not :p and J.K. Rowling does and she will not share with me :(

II The Curse

"Never again! Never again!" The agonising yells reverberated around Grimmauld Place before Lucius Malfoy passed out from the hell sent pain coursing through his body. Order members ran from their various tasks and into the drawing room where they found Severus Snape administering the youngest Malfoy a pain potion.

"Severus?" Albus spoke up from the front of the gathered crowd in the drawing room entryway. Black beetle eyes looked up to meet the blue eyes of his mentor.

"The Dark Lord broke through Draco's Occlumency shields," he spoke quietly, but the gathered Order members still heard the man's voice over his Godson's moans of pain. "Lucius saved him by denouncing the Dark Lord but I am afraid he may be worse off than his son," he said gravely as he looked over at his close friend and brother passed out on the chaise. His pathetic whimpers let the potions master know the wizard was still in pain despite being unconscious. Severus's eyes moved to meet a raven-haired young man's emerald green eyes. "They are going to need Miss Granger to heal them," he spoke to the young man cautiously.

"No!" The ginger next to the green-eyed man yelled. "Hermione will not be healing Death Eaters!" He snarled at the now glaring dark wizard then looked at his former blond schoolmate apologetically. It had taken a while for the ginger Gryffindor and blond Slytherin to warm up to each other but now they were almost as close as Ron and Harry, for which Severus was thankful.

"Ginny and I will speak with her," Harry said softly, ignoring Ron's outburst as he and Ginny portkeyed away.

"Why do you need Hermione?" Remus Lupin asked the wizard as everyone watched him set the broken bones in Draco's arm and legs. Severus looked up at the group with a grim expression.

"From what I gathered in Lucius's mind the Dark Lord 'blessed' him with a last gift." Everyone flinched. A 'gift' from Lord Voldemort was highly undesirable. "He is the first test subject of a new potion the Dark Lord was secretly brewing. He calls it Viventibus Mortem, or The Living Death. His own sadistic variation to the Draught of Living Death."

"What is the potion supposed to do?" Fred and George asked, instantly becoming interested.

"He experiences a lower level Cruciatus curse, then his body will refuse any kind of sustenance, thus he will slowly deteriorate and weaken," the former potions professor said darkly. "The pain is not enough for him to loose his mind, but he will be fully aware of his state, knowing he is dying and there is nothing that can be done to help him." The group looked at the unconscious whimpering wizard with pity in their eyes, but his condition did not earn their sympathy.

"Hermione agreed," Ginny breathed out as she ran into the drawing room. Severus gave an acknowledging nod in relief and portkeyed away again with his surrogate family.

Yes, I know this was very short. That is why I chose to post it after the first one...