Chapter 1

Hermione was slowly beginning to regain consciousness and she had a short moment to appreciate the way the cold, sturdy floor felt on her altogether too hot skin before she was overcome with pain, she yelled out in agony. She was in a fog grasping at straws to remember what had occurred but couldn't quite understand what was going on but she could feel the pain – the intense pain pulsing through her veins, acutely aware each time her heart contracted and relaxed spreading the cursed blood further into her body.

Around her should could hear two familiar voices talking fervently but could not pin point how she knew the voices. At a loss to piece together the words that were being spoken, all she could tell is that they seemed frantic.

She tried to move herself to sit up but instead was met with throbbing agony in all the muscles she had attempted to move, she let out a piercing, sharp cry.

Hermione heard movement around her and then felt the presence of a form hovering over her. She tried to peel back her eyelids but the light hurt - when she finally managed to open them her vision was burry and skewed, she instantly shut them again.

She could hear the person above her muttering spells and running diagnostic tests, all the while shouting commands at the other person in the room.

The person suddenly made contact with her moving the sleeve of her jacket covering the arm that held her wand - that she now realized was still clutching her wand and the broken time-turner. The small movement sent another wave of torment up her body and she tried to flinch away, only to discover she had no control over her body. She attempted to move again, trying to relax the fingers on her wand, nothing. Though she tried again and again it was as if she were paralyzed, while still being able to feel everything.

The realization of being unable to control her movements is what finally penetrated Hermione's mind into action, her need for control took over and pushed her brain to clear focus, it took all her might but she managed to pry her eyes open and allowed them to adjust.

Hermione was shocked when staring down at her from above was none other than Severus Snape, only it was not him at the same time - at least the him she knew. This Snape had none of the deep lines marring his face, formed from years of marking students and doing the Dark Lord's bidding, his hair was thicker and seemed not so much greasy, but more of a natural shine. Most importantly were his eyes, they did hold that ever present mixture of contempt and boredom, rather they still had a glint of something Hermione couldn't place.

"You're alive," Hermione's coarse voice ground out, just the act of speaking sent a wave of nausea rolling up into her skull. Struggling to keep her eyes open, another figure moved into view.

Dumbledore. Dumbledore is alive.

Hermione gasped as she took in the image of the two dead headmasters, her pain along with the image of these men standing over her was too much for Hermione to handle and she finally succumbed to darkness.

The high backed, Gryffindor scarlet chair that was placed opposite of the headmaster's desk was arguable the worst in the castle; the seat was too deep, the back too straight, the cushion too plush. It was impossible for one to both relax into the chair and maintain a semblance of decorum and Severus Snape did not have proper manors beat into him as child only to slouch in front of his superior. Therefore on any given night it was not uncommon to find one ramrod straight potions master seated in the offending piece of furniture. It was bearable for the normal meetings that would occur between a headmaster and his professor; discussions about lesson plans or a disorderly pupil, but that is not why Severus frequented the headmaster's office.

No, that is not the reason on which the potions master often finds himself in this ugly and uncomfortable chair at all. In fact, it had not been for more than a year that Severus had frequented this office for matters not pertaining to normal school duties. Not since Severus had made the biggest mistake of his life, well the second biggest mistake of his life. The first of his most grievous offenses was joining in leagues with that Snake-Faced git he now referred to as his Dark Lord.

He was just a stupid child who felt like the world was against him. The Dark Lord was the first person to make him feel both accepted and valued, he saw the talent Severus had with potions. At least that is how the Dark Lord made it seem to Severus, what he really needed was someone to brew potions for himself and all his lackeys. The fact that Severus had just accepted a teaching position under the nose of the Dark Lord's fiercest rival was not over looked either.

Severus assumed the day that he took the dark mark would begin the best days of his life, finally respected. Instead, his time as a Death Eater was filled with trying to one up his peers in order to find better favor. What else should he have expected off a group composed solely out of ambitious Slytherins. The other part of his time was spent trying to stay alive by not saying or thinking the wrong thing. Severus was fortunate that occlumency came so easily to him, if the Dark Lord were to become aware of how much Severus despised the people here and the things they did could mean the end for him. Each torment and death of a defenseless muggle, each time someone with rank made a mistake and was so easily torn apart by the same people they called friend, each senseless killing made Severus question his place here. That didn't mean Severus didn't participate, he did not have a death sentence, he went through the motions. He was not yet part of the inner most circle, yet he longed to be. He held out hope that once he was finally completely trusted by the Dark Lord that things would get better.

Idiot.

It was that train of thought that lead to the second biggest mistake of his life, relaying that blasted prophecy to the Dark Lord. Severus thought he had been given a gift on a platter when he overhead the prophecy spew out of Sybill Tralawney's disembodied mouth, how was he to know it was in reference to Lily's family. Truthfully, Severus always assumed that prophecies were a load of codswallop. The Dark Lord was not of the same mind and in was not two days after Severus had relayed the prophecy to him that plans to kill the Potter's were starting to form.

Since the moment that the Dark Lord had made clear to Severus that it was in deed the Potter's who had defied him thrice and that it was their snotty-nosed brat of a child that would somehow bring an end to his rein, Severus was through and through Dumbledore's. The very same night that Lily Potter became a target Severus found himself on his knees begging for forgiveness to this headmaster. No matter what the Dark Lord told him about sparing Lily, he could not get on board with killing her family, no matter his feelings towards Potter, his death and their son's would crush Lily. Severus found it ironic that the very action that finally propelled him into the Dark Lord's inner circle was the same action that ultimately was the proverbial final straw on the camels back that broke Severus into switching sides.

So, Severus began his life as a double agent, spying for the Order while pretending to spy for the Dark Lord. This was his punishment, his way to finally atone for the sins of this past, he fully expected to spend what was left of his poor and pitiful life trying to make up for the people he tortured and killed in the name of a madman. No one but Dumbledore himself knew of Severus' true alliance, it was long assumed that the Dark Lord had spies in the Order of Phoenix and the information Severus was suppling was enough to get him killed twice over should it slip out. Severus was alone on his mission, bound by oath to spend the rest of his nights sipping tea and retelling secrets to a pair of light blue eyes hidden behind half-moon spectacles.

Lucky me.

Tonight was a special night for Severus; with the school year drawing to a close this was seen as Severus' welcome back party. It had started with dinner and drinks at the manor with Lucius and Narcissa, they had of course invited those of the inner circle with high enough rank and tasteful enough manors to associate with people of their social standing; the Notts, Averys, Dolohovs, among a handful of others. The Lestranges barley made the cut due to family association only, Rodolphus was a slag who no one wanted near their wives and Bellatrix... well she was the product of inbreeding gone wrong. You have to be some level of crazy to be considered the barmiest by a group that tortures and kills people for fun.

The night went on as most of these events went, when you have a room full of ambitious Slytherins you night is going to be filled with thinly-veiled insults and declarations of superiority disguised as normal conversation. Severus had not been around most of these people since winter break and information was a commodity that was being freely given tonight without much prompting. He made sure the memorize the important and unimportant tidbits of information he was picking up, Dumbledore would want it all. The night was beginning to draw to a natural end, which meant the beginning of the real party of Severus. Wives were sent home, save Bellatrix of course, Narcissa disappeared to another wing of the house to tend to Severus' godson Draco, and all the curtains were drawn.

The Dark Lord apparated in, not alone but with three other Death Eaters each holding an unconscious person, they were placed to the side as the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters took their proper places at the long banquet table dominating the room. The Dark Lord began his speech, giving and receiving updates on certain tasks that had been distributed among the ranks, praise was giving out over successes and failures were paid for in screams. Finally, the Dark Lord addressed Severus asking for what had happened this past term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Severus divulged the information that Dumbledore had crafted for this very moment, enough truth mixed in with lies to pacify the Dark Lord without putting Order members at risk. The Dark Lord was pleased with Severus' offering. Though it was no surprise to Severus when the Dark Lord announced it was time for him to receive his punishment for being away for so long, Severus knew this was coming. After winter term it had been the same, Severus was at least somewhat prepared this time.

One by one, the inner circle of Death Eaters got a go at him, all wishing to please their master. The first time Severus was exposed to the Crucio curse was the night that he received his mark, it was a pain unlike any other, he had screamed and cried out for relief, prayed for unconsciousness, and secretly wished for death. Severus had felt weak, exposed, and belittled; from that moment he had a made a vow to himself to never react to the pain outwardly. Crucio really is an interesting spell, it isn't something you can adjust to or numb to the pain. It is an assault on the mind, a mental attack that causes all the pain receptors in your body to react. If Severus was anything, it was mentally strong.

So, as he laid on the floor, limbs sprawled out in weird angles with the pain of 100 knives penetrating his body, his face remained stoic and he did not utter a word. It was a point of contention between the other Death Eaters to be the one to make Severus break, Bellatrix especially wanted to be the one to finally breach the potion masters walls. Though he had been away for some time and thus out of practice, Severus managed to maintain his vow to himself on this night.

The Dark Lord had congratulated Severus as he pulled himself unsteadily from the floor, insisting that the length of his absence was now forgiven. He then motioned for the three unconscious bodies brought in early to be brought to the center of the room.

A gift, that is was the Dark Lord called them.

A muggle family of three, Severus' to do with as he pleased. He tried to make it as painless as possible but there was only so much he could do and not blow his cover. He put on a show for the spectators, but his spells did not quite pack as much of a punch as it appeared. Either way, their deaths fall onto him and he alone will be the one judged in the next life.

The night had ended there, at least for everyone else in attendance. Severus had bowed to his Dark Lord, said his goodbyes to those deemed necessary, and thanked Lucius for hosting before making a swift exit from the premisses. Once he hit the apparation site, he spun on a heel and was back under the looming shadow of the large castle, ready to attend to his other master.

That's how Severus found himself tonight, sat rigid in the uncomfortable scarlet chair, retelling Dumbledore of who was killed, what information had been recovered, and what was planned for the future. Dumbledore, as always, brewed a cup of tea for the both of them and let Severus tell his whole tale before asking questions. There were always questions or points of clarification.

While there had been a lot of cover this meeting, one singular piece of information was valued above the rest. Dolohov had boasted to Rowel about how the Dark Lord had given him a very special task, unknowingly letting Severus in on the next target, an Order member this time, Caradoc Dearborn a ministry worker in the Department of Magical Creatures. Severus and Dumbledore had traded ideas on why Dearborn was singled out, it had long been suspected that Voldemort would make a play to sway the giants and werewolves, maybe this was his first move. Dumbledore was pleased with the information but Severus could only think of the three muggles that lost their life for an Order member.

"We can't save them all Severus," Dumbledore reasoned, "if you were there or not, these muggles would have died today, painfully. You made it a swifter and cleaner death for all of them."

Severus had no response, instead he began pulling his memories from the night out of his mind and placing them in a vial for Dumbledore, he always like to reanalyze the meetings, make certain that Severus did not leave anything out. This also meant that for the third time tonight Severus was reliving the experience, it wouldn't be the last, he would see them again in his dreams.

Once finished, Dumbledore rose from his desk, collected the vial from Severus and started to make his way towards the pensive. He had not gone all of two steps when there was a small tremor in the room, it was just strong enough to be noticeable, the tea left in Severus' cup rippling slightly. Severus immediately was standing, wand slipped from his sleeve ready for attack, he looked for the source of the disturbance.

"Severus," Dumbledore scowled, "put that away, it was probably just Peeves up to his usual nightly shenanigans." He had just finished speaking when there was another tremor, this one more pronounced than the previous, seeming to emanate from behind the headmaster's desk.

"Curious," Dumbledore said, now removing his own wand from the folds of his robe and moving back towards his desk.

Together the duo moved slowly and stealthily around desk, wands pointed at whatever they would find, they slowly rounded the corner and... nothing.

"Very curious indeed," Severus breathed as he lowered his wand, straightened, and turned to return to his disagreeable perch, just as he looked away another tremor hit.

The strongest one by far, things fell from the shelves lining the walls around the office. Severus braced himself on the edge of the desk as the floor continued to shake, next to him Dumbledore fell to his knees unable to remain upright with the force of the movement. Then, as suddenly as it began it ended, Severus helped the headmaster to his feet swiftly and was about to run a check on the wards of Hogwarts to see if the school was under attack when a strangled, feminine yell brought their attention back to behind the desk.

"Oh dear," Dumbledore moved around towards the girl - no woman, laying prone in the space between the desk and shelf behind.

Severus followed after him, the girl looked like she had been through hell, the muggle clothes she was wearing were disheveled, covered in dirt and ash, and torn in several places. He hair was wild, curly by nature it looked out of control and containing as much dirt and ash as her clothes, her wand was grasped fiercely in her right hand, she was not moving but her rugged breathing and piercing moans proved that she was both alive and in pain.

Dumbledore bent down next to her and began to move to remove the wand from her grasp, that's when Severus noticed the deep purple, almost back veins starting in her hand and disappearing up into her shirt sleeve... "Stop," Severus called out.

"Severus the girl is unconscious and obviously in a lot of pain, I do not think I need worry about her harming me."

Severus quickly moved over to the girl, moving Dumbledore out of the way and placing himself in the vacant space, "Don't touch her, she has been hit with a blood curse."

Dumbledore quickly scanned her body and took notice of the dark veins emanating from her hand holding the wand, "Good catch my boy, do you recognize it?"

"Unfortunately I do, we are going to need to move her down to my lab eventually but we must ensure that we do not come in contact with her skin. I am going to need to run diagnostic test to ensure that there is nothing else that could interfere with the potions I am going to need to administer to her."

Severus began to run the proper tests; this woman had been hit with a myriad stunners and jinxes along with the Cruciatus curse in the last hours alone. This would make his job more difficult, he needed to see how much the blood curse had progressed. Carefully he pulled the sleeve back on her arm, touching only the fabric of her jumper, it was worse than he expected.

"We need to move her now," Severus called to Dumbledore who was currently running around the office trying to discern how on Earth the woman got here in the first place.

Severus turned back to the woman to begin to figure out a way to move her and was met with dark, earthy brown eyes alight with recognition, "You're alive."

Her voice was scratchy and struggled to come out, but Severus was more impressed with the fact that she not only managed to open her eyes but form coherent words.

"She knows you Severus," Dumbledore moved into focus and the woman's eyes shifted to him, more recognition and then confusion. Her eyes squeezed shut as another pulse of agony swept through her and then in a blink of an eye she was blacked out.

"We need to move her. Now."

Author's Note:

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