AN: This starts off very fluffy, sorry about that, it becomes less so later.
CHAPTER TWO - Severus Visits the Weasleys
Molly sat on one of the old but comfortable armchairs that overfilled the living room at the Burrow, hugging and rocking Sara, and trying, without much success, to comfort her.
"I won't ever see Mummy again will I? I know I won't, 'cause she told me," Sara choked out.
"Well perhaps not, but you never know, you might one day, and anyway you do have a lovely letter from her. Would you like to read it now or would you like me to read it to you? And here you have me for your new ... auntie, or even a second mummy if you would like that, and lots of new brothers, and a sister who will be here in the school holidays; that'll be nice won't it?"
Molly was wishing that the children were home now as that might distract Sara a little.
The idea of her having brothers or sisters was not completely new to Sara, but that they might live with her was. Her own mother had had two other babies after Sara, both girls, but they had been sold directly they were weaned.
"Master did not sell them when they were little?... Oh no, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I forgot they're free, not like me. I promise I won't forget again."
She was crying again and cringing away from Molly, but Molly gathered her closer and again attempted to comfort her. She thought Sara was upset because she was a slave and did not realise, at least not fully, that Sara's fear was because she'd thought that Molly would be angry with her for thinking her children were slaves.
After more hugs and murmured words Sara did settle down and eventually she fell asleep. Molly carried her up the rickety stairs and put her to bed in a room that had previously been Ginny's and was next to Molly and Arthur's bedroom...
About a year earlier Ginny had persuaded her parents to let her move into a room next to Charlie's old room. She had originally wanted Charlie's room as it was both larger and, more importantly, further away from her parents than her room was; it was right at the top of the house in fact, which she thought more suitable for herself now that she was nearly a teenager, or as she thought of it, 'nearly an adult.' However her mother had pointed out that Charlie would still need his room whenever he was back in England, and instead they had greatly enlarged a small room, also on the top floor, that had been used for storage, and that turned out to be even better really, as that way her favourite brother was in a room right next to her whenever he was home.
That evening Molly checked on Sara, to find her awake, lying still, and with an apprehensive expression on her face, but when Molly entered the room, Sara jumped to her feet and stood before her, looking at the floor.
"Would you like to come downstairs for some supper dear?"
Sara bowed then nodded and breathed a reply. "Yes, thank you Mistress."
"Oh, I'm not your mistress Sara. We are your new family; so you might like to call me Molly, or perhaps Auntie Molly, would you like to do that?"
Another shy nod, and then a pause. "Aren't you my new master's auntie? Won't he be cross if call you Auntie?"
"No, he won't be cross, he won't mind at all; Harry is like another son to us and is a very dear and kind boy, so I'm sure he won't give a second's thought about that and will be happy for you to call us whatever you want to call us. You don't have to worry about a little thing like that. Anyway, Harry has asked us to look after you for him and he knows that you will be treated just like all our other children."
Sara was not too sure about that. This lady seemed very kind but she didn't seem to know much about slaves or their masters. "Will you ask him for me please?"
"Well, Harry is at school at the moment; he goes to Hogwarts, but if you come downstairs we can fire-call him."
Sara shook her head, not at all happy with the idea of disturbing him... "No! ... Please Mrs... please just ask him when he comes home. May I call you Mrs Weasley 'til then please? When will he come home?"
"Harry doesn't live here but he will probably spend some of his summer holidays with us. Never mind, call me Mrs Weasley if that's what you'd feel more comfortable with, and don't worry; I'm sure Harry will be a very kind master for you. He will not mind at all if you ask him any questions."
Molly had noticed Sara's expression, and had guessed correctly that she was upset at the idea of annoying Harry with a question about something so minor.
"Harry is a Abolitionist just like we are. Do you know what that means?" At Sara's head shake Molly continued, "An Abolitionist is someone who does not believe that anyone should be a slave and tries to have slavery outlawed. That also means that they are always kind to anyone unfortunate enough to be born a slave."
Sara said nothing. She knew that her slavery was forever. However if her master was one of these Abolitionists it did seem he might be kind to her.
…
Severus Snape, who always seemed so strong and independent, was the only slave apart from Sara that Molly Weasley had ever met, and despite Molly's being a pure-blood and aware that some masters demanded absolute obedience from their slaves, she had never realised the full extent of how indoctrinated a slave child might be. The next few weeks, to her dismay, were to open her eyes.
It soon became obvious that Sara had been taught to think of herself as a second class being; one whose whole and only purpose was to serve her master and who had none of the rights free people took for granted. Molly and Arthur even had trouble convincing her that Harry would think it was alright for her to sit on the furniture while in their presence, and not only to eat at the table but also to eat at the same time they did and have the same meals they had. They had at last convinced her by saying that as she was now part of their family Harry would expect her to follow their house rules, and their house rules included one that stated everyone in the house was to eat at the table and everyone had to eat together. Sara had seen the logic in that; if it was a house rule then she had to obey it. Her master would expect her to obey Mrs and Mr Weasley.
Of course, her master probably didn't realise how lax the house rules were; they were not too lax for the Weasley family of course, as they were all free, but too lax for slaves. So far she had not been punished once, even when she had dropped one of Mrs Weasley's best cups. Actually that worried her; if she was not punished that must mean that when Mrs Weasley told her master, or when she herself had to confess all the bad things she had done, he would have to punish her for everything all at once.
Her mother had always punished her immediately whenever she had disobeyed or done something that might be considered wrong by her master, because had she not done so, when her old master found out about it he would punish both her and her mother, sometimes severely... If her new master did not come to The Burrow until Summer, then that would be three and a half months of correction all at once; the thought of that was a worry.
Molly was finding looking after Sara to be far less easy than she had thought it would be. It was not that Sara was disobedient, quite the reverse, she was an un-naturally quiet and obedient child, which was not only something to which Molly was not accustomed from her own brood, but also something she found distressing as it indicated that Sara had been brought up far too strictly. However much she and Arthur encouraged Sara to behave in a more natural manner and to play with some of the toys around the house, Sara never seemed to be really happy unless she was doing chores, studying her lessons or reading books on first year charms and potions.
Sara did not know if she would be permitted to be a student at Hogwarts when she was old enough, in fact she thought it extremely unlikely, but just in case her master was so good as to allow her to be educated there, she was determined to show him that she would always work hard and be a good student. Even at her young age she knew that the more skills a slave possessed the more useful it was to its master and so the less likely it was to be sold. The fear of being sold, possibly to someone worse than their current master, was the source of many a slave's nightmares.
One morning, while they were eating breakfast, there was the sound of tapping at the window; two owls, both with tiny parcels attached to their legs, were trying to catch their attention. Molly recognised one of them as being Harry's owl Hedwig, and rushed to let them in.
Hedwig flew over to Sara, perched on the back of a chair and held out her leg, and the other owl, a large silvery-grey bird, stood on the windowsill and awaited his turn. Sara looked at Molly to see what she should do.
Molly smiled. "I think they are both for you dear, and from Harry by the looks of it. The white owl is called Hedwig; she's Harry's owl."
An overwhelmed and apprehensive Sara gingerly took the parcel from Hedwig and read what was written on the attached tag.
Dear Sara,
This parcel is under a Shrinking Charm, so please ask Mr or Mrs Weasley to expand it for you and then press your thumb against the catch.
Kind Regards,
Harry.
Sara handed the parcel to Molly, and Molly, who had a good idea of what the box contained and how big it would be when expanded, placed it on the floor away from any furniture and touched it with her wand. It immediately expanded into an ornately carved teak chest which was approximately the size of two large suitcases. Sara, pushed back behind her right ear that tress of black hair that was forever annoying her by falling forward, and approached it cautiously, and before she pressed her thumb on the catch she looked back at Molly, her face lit up with delight but still not quite willing to allow herself to believe that it really was just for her. "It really is for me?"
"Yes love. Open it up dear; it won't bite."
It appeared to be packed nearly full with clothes; Wizarding robes, underwear, shoes and some Muggle jeans, blouses and pullovers, all obviously of good quality. On top of them lay another note from Harry.
Dear Sara,
Mrs Weasley tells me that you have been wearing some of the clothes Ginny has grown out of, some of which may not be completely suitable for you. While I am sure that some of them are both nice and suitable, I know what it's like to have no choice but to wear someone else's 'hand-me-down' clothes,so I want you to have a few things to wear which have never belonged to anyone else. These have been bought for you using measurements Mrs Weasley has provided. I am sorry that I did not think to get them for you before now.
Please tell Mrs Weasley that if I've forgotten anything to let me know.
Mrs Weasley also tells me that you are good at school work and are very advanced for your age, so the other box contains some Hogwarts first and second year text books you might like – and a few Muggle and Wizarding world story books.
Kind Regards,
Harry
Neither Molly nor Arthur could quite conceal their amusement at the completely gob-smacked expression on Sara's face and then her stuttered, "He must be the kindest master in the world!"
At that moment the floo flared and Severus Snape's head appeared in the fireplace and he asked if he could come through.
Molly nodded, "Of course Severus, come through," and then she turned back to Sara, "Well, I don't know about that, but he certainly is a very kind and thoughtful boy, as you will discover."
"See? We keep telling you that you do not have to worry all the time about being quite so obedient. Harry knows that all children make mistakes: he is not that much older than you are, after all. I'm sure he wants you to relax, forget that he is your master and just enjoy yourself," Arthur put in.
Had either of them being looking at Severus's face they might have noticed the expression in his eyes.
"How are you Severus? Is everything alright with the boys? What have they done now?" Molly was worried that there might be bad news about Fred and George, as Severus was not in the habit of visiting for no particular reason.
"Not at all Molly; the twins have been remarkably well behaved of late - or, if they have not, I have found no evidence of it. No, I'm here because I have been asked by my master to see how Sara is settling in, and if any of you have any needs or questions now that she has been here for just over two months."
"That's a relief; those boys are usually the only reason I'm contacted by the school...we do have a couple of questions, and Sara probably has a few things she would like to ask you."
She turned to Sara. "Sara, do you remember Professor Snape? He was the one who brought you here, remember?"
"I do remember you sir, you belong to the same..." Sara blushed and could not continue.
"Yes Sara. No need to blush, you are correct; we both have the same master."
He looked at her searchingly and then turned to the Weasleys. "I think that Sara may have some questions that she would prefer to ask me privately. Is there a room we could use?" Also there were some things he wished to tell her privately, but he did not mention that.
Molly looked put out that she would not hear whatever it was that Snape intended to talk to Sara about, and was about to protest but Arthur put his hand on her arm before she could say anything.
"Of course Severus, Sara will feel free to say whatever she wishes if she knows we're not listening," Arthur added, mainly for his wife's benefit.
"Come with me please," and he led them from the kitchen and into a small sitting room. "Will this do?"
"Yes thank you Arthur; it is ideal."
After Arthur had left to return to the kitchen Severus motioned for Sara to sit down and then cast several silencing charms around them both before seating himself on a straight backed chair opposite her.
Sara had her head down and was pretending to look down at the floor, but in reality was looking at him through her eyelashes. Professor Snape puzzled her; he looked so elegant, and bore himself with an air of proud dignity and reserve, not like a slave at all. Then, thinking this strangely imposing and self-confident slave might notice where she was really looking and think her impertinent, she lowered her eyes properly and waited for whatever he had to say to her.
"Look up at me Sara; I am not your master so there is no need to lower your eyes." When she raised her eyes he continued, "how do you like living here Sara? Are they treating you well? You need have no concerns about telling me the truth. Whatever you tell me will not be repeated to the Weasleys... In fact you must tell me as our master has asked me to find out how you are settling in here."
Sara recognised an order when she heard one, even one related to her second hand. "Yes sir, very well. I mean they treat me very well." However she was distracted by thoughts about the two boxes in the other room and broke out, "Do you have a message for me from our master sir? Did you see the huge parcels he just sent me?" She took a quick breath and opened her mouth to continue.
Snape nodded and then held up his hand to stop her saying anything more. "Just a moment Sara, we can talk about that later; forget about those parcels for the moment. First of all, our master wants to know more about how you like it here at the Burrow and how the Weasleys are treating you."
"They are wonderful sir, very kind. I have my own room and bed and I even eat with them and everything …but...but... I don't think they really understand about us, about the bonds and things; they treat me as if I'm one of their children."
"Yes, from the little I saw a moment ago, I suspected that might be the case. They intend to be kind of course, but do not fully understand the realities of our situation, and that if we start to think of ourselves as completely free, it can have rather nasty consequences. I think you understand that very well though don't you Sara? It seems that despite your being so young, your mother has impressed upon you the realities of being a slave, and you seem to be a sensible little girl."
"Yes, mum explained it all to me, or a lot of it anyway, all about the spells and laws and everything, and my old master was strict with us. He punished us every time we did anything wrong and gave us obedience lessons every few weeks or whenever he felt we needed them."
'Or rather, whenever the bastard felt like it,' Severus thought.
"Obedience lessons?"
"Yes, magically or the cane usually... and other things of course."
"I see." Only too well. "Your previous master, unfortunately, was typical of many or even of most masters. Our master is more lenient; however please remember that does not mean he will, or even can, ignore any disrespectful behaviour. Moreover, he is young and still comparatively new to being a master, so our master/slave bonds have not exerted their full influence upon him yet.
"You must never forget to be absolutely respectful and obedient to him. Even if our bonds do not manage to change our master at all, you must be careful not to let the way you live here make you forget what you are, whose property you are, and how you must behave. If you do not, if you get out of the habit of it, then when you grow up, your bond will expect behaviour of you with which you will find it very difficult to comply... If you have ever witnessed your mother suffering the sort of punishment a slave bond can give an adult slave, then you must know how unpleasant that can be, and usually is. Can you promise me that Sara? That you will remember what is required of you? The bond itself will help by reminding you of course."
"Yes sir. I haven't ever seen mummy being punished by her bond, but she told me it could happen and was horrible."
"Yes indeed... Now, do you have any questions or concerns with which I may be able to help you?"
"Yes sir. Thank you. When do you think master will visit here? When I do bad things Mrs Weasley doesn't punish me, and she says that master is not here very often... so when he does come... Does he use Crucio to punish us?
"No he does not, not ever. I understand your concern but you have no need to worry that he will do anything as harsh as that; in fact we are remarkably fortunate in that our master refuses to use any magical punishments at all, as he believes them all to be far too painful. On the very few occasions when I have forgotten my place or otherwise offended, the bond, he has not punished me severely, in fact he has only reprimanded me, so I don't think that he will punish you severely either; he will probably only do it just enough to satisfy the bond. Moreover I do not think he will ever give you any so-called 'obedience lessons.' "
"Gosh! Thank you. . . But if it is a really long time before I see him again, there will be lots and lots of things I've done wrong, so he will have to give me punishments for a lot of things all at once."
"I understand. I will speak with our master and ask his permission to tell Mr and Mrs Weasley that you need to be corrected immediately whenever you are disobedient, or your bond may exact a more painful punishment, or our master will have to punish you. Will that set your mind at rest?"
Sara nodded and said, "Yes, thank you sir." She was not completely convinced, however she put that aside for the moment to ask another question. "May I ask another question please?"
"Ask as many questions as you wish Sara, within reason."
"Thank you sir. Do you think that if I study hard our master might let me have a wand and even perhaps go to Hogwarts? Mrs Weasley told me that it costs a lot of money to go there, so I suppose he won't, but if he does let me go, how will the free children treat me? I know I'll not be able to go to Hogwarts for very long anyway as master will want me to start having babies once I start to be old enough, but perhaps he might let me go 'til then, do you think?"
"I cannot answer for our master of course, but I think it is certain that he will let you have a wand and probably even go to Hogwarts as a student. …As for having babies, I do not think that our master will wish to breed from you for many years yet, and in fact, almost certainly, he never will...I am not privy to our master's thoughts of course, but the box of books he has just given you indicates that he may intend you to go to Hogwarts."
"You really think so? I thought that master had probably sent me the books for self study?"
"That may be so. Again, I cannot answer for him. However I feel that it is is probable he will allow you to attend the school and that the books are so that you can prepare yourself for that. As for how the other children may treat you; I do not think that most of them will treat you badly merely because of your status, however no doubt there will be one or two, perhaps more, who may not be nice to you or even try to bully you for that or for other reasons, so I shall suggest to our master that he puts a monitoring charm on you so they will have to deal with not only me but also with the Boy Who Lived if they are foolhardy enough to do anything. Our master hates bullies."
"The Boy Who Lived?"
"Yes of course, although he is less than fond of the title." At her blank look he added, "surely you know who our master is?"
"Harry Potter? The Boy Who Lived?"
"Yes. Has no-one told you who our master is? Even if your mother or previous master did not tell you who was buying you, Molly and Arthur must have mentioned his name surely?"
"They just call him 'Harry' or 'your master' – The Boy Who Lived is my master!" Sara wore a silly grin.
"Merlin! Don't get carried away child. Yes, by all means be thankful you have a master who is a kind young man, and a famous and powerful wizard, but do not degenerate into a fan-girl. He loathes being idolised or flattered for something he cannot remember doing…Any books and stories you may have read about him are just that, just fictional stories which have been made up out of someone's imagination, so put them completely out of your head and try to appreciate him for the kind young man and powerful wizard that he is, and not as some imaginary story book hero...
Moreover, whoever your master happened to be, your bond will do its best to push you into an unreasoning worship of him, so you will need to be extra careful. As I'm sure your mother has impressed upon you, a slave's only hope of having a happy life is to please its master, and if you behave as a fan-girl you will not please him at all."
That subdued Sara at once. She nodded. "I think I understand sir...well,
sort of; I must be very obedient and work hard for him but not... not... well it's difficult, but just behave like a normal slave with her master."
"Do not worry unduly. I think you will manage rather well. You are remarkably mature for an nine year old, and it is another two years before you will be likely to live either near or in our master's suite of rooms at Hogwarts, or even meet our master very often. Just follow your instincts, take heed of what your bond tells you, and if you have problems you can ask my advice. Just send me your owl."
"But...I don't have an owl; do you mean one of Mr Weasley's owls?"
"You do now. The large silver-grey owl who brought one of the parcels is a present for you. Be sure to write to our master to thank him for the clothes, books and the owl...and make sure you are careful to look after the owl very well indeed; our master loves animals, so he would not be happy to hear that you were not looking after him carefully. Plus of course, the owl is really our master's property, not yours, so he must be treated with respect for that reason also. There are a couple of books on owl care that you must read, and a perch and some owl food and treats, in the box the owl brought.
Molly knows that you are getting him and when he is not with you he is to live in their owlery with their owls. One of the Weasleys' owls is old and the other is small, so neither of them can carry large parcels even when they are shrunk and have a lightening charm on them, and having so many children they could do with another and more useful owl. So of course you must allow them to use your owl whenever they wish to do so."
Sara's mouth was hanging open rather unattractively. "My own owl! My own owl!"
"Close your mouth child, you look ridiculous...Yes, your own owl. Not legally yours of course, but our master considers him to be yours."
"I have the best master in the whole world!"
"H'm, I'm inclined to agree; however remember what I said about fan-girl behaviour. Think what you like inside, but show only quiet gratitude and respect. Show your gratitude for his kindness by obedience and hard work and hide the full extent of your emotions as best you can. Few masters wish to be burdened by an excess of emotion from their slaves."
"Yes sir; that is what mum always said, well it's sort of what she said, but I'm so excited. Sorry! He is so good, and you are too, coming all the way here to talk to me and everything. You are so good to me!"
"Yes, well, we are virtually family after all." Snape sounded disconcerted..."I am here at the behest of our master. He is the one you must thank... I suggest that you write your 'thank you letter' to him, while I am still here; I can then check it to make certain the tone and words are those appropriate from a slave to her master. I shall also check your spelling, grammar and penmanship, so write it carefully. I'm sure you wish to create a good impression on him."
He paused and gave the suspicion of a smile in that the side of his upper lip quirked for a moment . "Our master, due to his being brought up by muggles, had some difficulty with using a quill at first, so he is impressed by a beautiful hand."
Then thinking that sounded like a criticism he hastened to add, "He now writes beautifully of course," well, he does when he allows me to write for him, "but he still appreciates the skill involved in using a quill."
He went on, changing the subject. "Did your mother or previous master tell you the name of the bond to which you are subject?"
"Mum told me the name but I can't remember it, 'Servus' something? She said my new master would probably tell me all about it and. . explain it to me." Sara did know a little more about it than that, but was reluctant to talk about it with someone she hardly knew, even though he too was a slave, and however kind and understanding he seemed to be.
"No doubt he will, in time, when you are older." Not that our master would know it in any detail himself, and unless it's explained to him it is unlikely that he will be aware of the full extent of the bond for a few years yet, then the bond itself will enlighten him, no doubt.
"Since you cannot remember the name of it I need to cast a scanning spell to find out which bond it is. Stand up and keep still for a moment."
When Sara stood up he pointed his wand at her and then circled it around; it came to rest pointing at her heart. Above Sara's head a deep blue haze with black streaks appeared. The dark streaks gradually formed into words in what Severus knew to be Aramaic and could read. Then they dissipated. Snape's face revealed nothing.
"What bond is it sir?"
"I'm not sure Sara," he lied. "I shall have to investigate it further".
"There is one other thing Sara. Always remember that apart from affectionate hugs from Molly or Arthur or Ginevra, no-one, absolutely no-one, whoever they are or claim to be, must touch you in any... personal...way at all, without our master's express permission."
He held out to her a silver ring in the form of a small snake with tiny emeralds for eyes.
"He told me to give you this. Put it on either hand, but I suggest that if you are right handed then put it on a finger on your left hand and vise versa... Good. Now that you have it on, no-one except our master can remove it. Indeed, were you to lose that finger the ring would detach itself from it and find you again. Apart from its other capabilities, it is also a portkey, nd if rubbed or twisted while you say 'Sanctorum" it will transport you to our master's quarters at Hogwarts or to some other safe place, possibly to wherever our master is at the time, so long as it is safe and convenient to our master for you to be there of course. If that is not the case it will transport you to a safe place, probably Hogwarts or to one of our master's houses - I have a similar ring myself." He held out his left hand to show her a larger but identically marked ring on his ring finger. "If you feel threatened by anyone, even the slightest bit threatened by anyone or anything, you must use it at once. That is his direct order you understand. We are vulnerable to abuse from free wizards and witches, but as the property of the Boy Who Lived we are also in danger because there are still many Death Eaters and DE sympathisers at large who might like to attack him by kidnapping or harming his property. That must not be allowed to happen; we must not allow it to happen. That is why you must, absolutely must, use your portkey if you feel even the slightest bit threatened."
Sara had slipped the ring on to her third finger of her right hand and was gazing at it admiringly. She had been puzzled that her master had taken such care to protect her and Professor Snape like that, and had thought that it was probably because he must have paid so much money to buy them, but now that Professor Snape had explained that anyone attacking her was really attacking her master, it made much more sense and was obviously important.
She looked up and nodded solemnly. "Yes sir, I understand. But what if someone kidnaps me and I don't have time to rub the ring? What if they stun me and when I wake up my hands are tied so I can't use it?"
"In that case all you have to do is imagine yourself rubbing it and say or even merely think 'Sanctorum' and what you wish it to do... Say the word for me now so I can be certain you can say it correctly – stop! – don't rub the ring at the same time!"
Sara, who had almost touched the ring, jerked her hand back just in time. She said "Sanctorum," carefully and Snape gave a slight nod to show that she had pronounced it correctly.
"If you say or think the words 'hide ring' while simultaneously thinking of the ring, it will disappear and only re-appear when you say 'reveal ring.' It is advisable to keep it hidden at all times because then no-one will know you have it, and although it cannot be taken from you, it might be painful if someone were to try, and it does not have to be visible to be usable."
"Thank you sir... sir...there is something else...I... I'm not pretty, and you said that master probably doesn't want me for breeding either...so then how can I be useful? He won't sell me will he?" Sara felt a shiver of fear.
"Set your mind completely at rest about being sold. That will not happen. He bought you because he feared that if he did not, then your old master might sell you to someone who would be cruel to you. For that same reason he will not wish to risk you being with a cruel master were he to sell you himself. There are other reasons which I cannot explain without his permission, why I'm certain that it is highly unlikely that our master will ever sell either of us... As for your not being pretty; I will not lie to you, that may be true at the moment, however I think that your looks are of the sort that improve with age. You may never be pretty as your features are too strong for that, but you may grow up to be interesting-looking or even beautiful. Even if that does not eventuate, our master may allow you to use beauty charms when you are older."
"So he may want me when I am old enough then?"
"Perhaps."...He will be an unusual young man if he does not at least occasionally take advantage of having a young woman who is only too eager to have sex with him. However, somehow I think he may not do that. To be more cynical about it, being who he is, there will always be dozens of prettier females who are also eager to be the recipients of his attention. "But do not make the mistake of judging him by your previous master, or even from what your mother may have tried to prepare you for, our master is a most unusual wizard; he may not wish or even permit you to serve him traditionally at all. If he allows you to be educated, as I think he will, he will probably allow you to work for him in ways other than those traditional for all slaves, but particularly for females. However it is premature for you to worry about any of this. Your duty at the moment is only to obey Mr and Mrs Weasley and to work hard at your studies."
"I shall do that sir... I do hope you're right about me getting better looking later on, because I want to please him."
Severus sighed. "Yes, of course you do... but remember, it will be years before you have to worry about that at all. In any case, our master is a most unusual young man, quite unlike most males his age, he thinks character far more important than looks. He once commented to me that he found it odd and very disappointing that almost everyone seemed to think being beautiful was a virtue, whereas in reality it was merely luck.
"So, Sara, unless you have more questions I think that will be all for now. It is unfortunate, but you must lways make sure you remember what you are and your place. Our master has asked Molly and Arthur to be his representatives with regard to you, so you must obey them in everything…except if it is something you are certain our master would neither like nor permit. . . and work hard at your lessons. . . As I said before, no-one, and that includes Molly and Arthur, must be allowed to touch you inappropriately... if anyone should attempt to touch you in an inappropriate way, you are to refuse to allow it and to contact me or come to me or our master, via your ring, at once. . . I am certain it is extremely unlikely that such a thing would happen, at least while you are living here, but if it should then I want you to know exactly what our master will expect you to do. Do you understand?"
"You mean that because I'm our master's property only he can touch my body? I know that anyway because Mummy told me. Or someone he gives permission to I suppose."
"Not quite how I would have put it, but yes, essentially yes." And, on reflection, I'm almost certain Harry would never think of taking advantage of you himself that way either, certainly not for years, and perhaps not even then.
Sara bowed her head. "I will sir. I promise. Thank you for helping me and please tell my master how grateful I am for the boxes of clothes and books and even more for this ring and my owl. May I write to thank him now?"
"Yes of course you may, in fact as I said before, you must do so. When you have written your letter and I have checked it for you, you can send it off with your new owl. Go now and unpack your books – you will find some parchment, quills and bottles of ink in the second box."
"Thank you very much sir. Goodbye." Sara walked out of the room and back into the living room where Arthur and Molly were sitting. The boxes were no longer there, and on seeing her look around for them, Molly told her they had been levitated up to her room and the large owl had gone to their owlery. Sara excused herself and ran up the stairs.
Severus had followed her out to where Molly and Arthur were still waiting. "May I use your floo to contact my master please Arthur? I need to ask his advice and get his permission to tell you what I believe needs to be done."
"Yes, of course," Arthur agreed. "If you need privacy, there's another connected floo in the room you were just in, and the floo powder's in the green jar on the mantelpiece."
"Thank you Arthur. I shan't take long."
Severus threw the powder into the fire and called, "Headmaster Dumbledore's suite, Hogwarts." When the headmaster's head appeared he asked, "Albus, could you ask my master to come to your office so I can speak to him please?"
"Yes of course dear boy. You're lucky; he happens to be right here with me and professor McGonagall at the moment." He turned away from the fire to say, "Harry my boy, Severus wishes to ask you something I believe."
Harry walked over to the headmaster's fireplace. "Hello Sev. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, thank you Master. It is merely that I require your permission to talk to Molly and Arthur about Sara's bond and tell them what I believe it requires of them. May I do that Master?"
"Yes, of course you can, just do whatever you think best; you understand about it far better than I do anyway. When you come back you can tell me all about it."
"I am most grateful Master."
"No need for that. Anyway, even if we discussed it beforehand, in the end I'd only do as you suggested. I totally trust you, so please tell them whatever you think they need to know."
After a further expression of his gratitude, Severus broke the connection, and then returned to the kitchen.
"You wish to talk to us?" Arthur asked as Severus walked back in.
"Yes, thank you..." Severus hesitated for a moment; he didn't think that what he intended to say would be welcome news to Molly and Arthur...
"What I am about to say and ask of you may offend your sense of justice and ethical behaviour, however it needs to be said for Sara's sake, so please endeavour to have an open mind about it."
Snape paused yet again, to gather his thoughts. "The bond under which Sara is enslaved is a very old one. I haven't told her the name of it and in fact I have told her that I do not know exactly what it is, which was, partially, a lie, however, as it is a strict and harsh bond I thought it inadvisable to explain it to her at this time, as she might have expected me to do had I known about it. More importantly, I do not know if our master would wish Sara to know all the details at present, or for those details to be known by anyone in fact, so, unfortunately, I cannot tell you the details of it either, except that, as it is ancient and consequently severe in its restrictions as to her behaviour, it is important that Sara not set herself against it in any way at all, as the consequences if she were to do so might be most unpleasant for her, and distressing for our master too I believe, as he is an exceptionally good natured young man, so any punishment the bond were to give Sara would be most upsetting for him."
"Oh no. . . We were hoping that Sara was under a more. . . well, one of the more lenient bonds. . .not that any of them are exactly kind of course. . . Do you mean that the bond is one of those that will itself punish Sara if she fails to behave in the manner it expects?" asked Arthur.
"Yes, that is exactly what I believe to be the case, and not only if she fails to behave correctly, but also if she starts to think of herself as equal in importance to her master... My master once told me that I am at liberty to inform anyone, if it became necessary or if I wished to do so, of my own bond...and as I believe you already know, it is common knowledge, why Mr James Potter bought me and that my bond is also strict, I will tell you some of the details of my bond. . . However I must request that you treat what I am about to tell you as confidential."
"Yes of course," Molly answered for them both and Arthur nodded in agreement. "We won't breathe a word to anyone; I imagine that neither you nor Harry are too keen on everyone knowing your business more than they already do."
"Thank you Molly, Arthur. . . with strict bonds such as mine, were I to do or say something the bond considers inappropriate, even if that transgression were accidental or inadvertent, and my master not punish me for it—or at the very least reprove me for it—within a certain time frame, then the bond itself would exact a punishment that would almost certainly be quite painful both physically and emotionally, far more so than anything he would need to do or say to me, and also by that stage it might be quite difficult for my master to stop the bond from doing so. Consequently, and after being subject to a few of such bond induced punishments over the years, I have trained myself to behave, even to think, in the manner the bond expects and requires.
"That was particularly difficult and unpleasant for me when first I became an adult and the bond matured. That was partly due to the upbringing I had as a child and when belonging to my first master: he was a good man and with the best of intentions he brought me up almost as his son, so my childhood was happy. As a result of that I was hardly aware that I was actually his slave. That was facilitated by the bond I am under being one where a child can be given a great deal of leniency if the master so wishes. However, when I matured, and the bond matured in response to my new maturity, which unfortunately for me happened concurrently with the death of my master and my being inherited by the Malfoys, it was not only an extremely cruel and sadistic new owner with whom I had to contend, it was also a mature and therefore suddenly far more cruel bond, which punished me on the rare occasions when my master forgot to do so. I learned quickly what the bond demanded of me, but the process would have been far quicker and easier, far less painful, had I been in the habit of thinking of myself as a slave, had my mind fully accepted the required submission, behaviour and obedience..."
"So, are you saying that Sara should not ever think of herself as entirely free?"
"Yes Arthur, absolutely, that is exactly what I'm saying; it is essential. The behaviour her bond probably requires of her now is quite strict, and what it will require of her when she matures will be even more exacting. Unless she feels herself to be absolutely the possession of our master, and unless she puts his interests completely above her own, the bond will punish her, probably quite severely, when she matures, and possibly even now to some extent."
Both Molly and Arthur were appalled. This was far worse for Sara than they had thought it to be, and they had thought it bad enough to begin with.
Arthur was the first to realise why Severus had thought it necessary to tell them some of his personal history. "You are trying to tell us that treating Sara exactly as if she were our daughter is not in her long term interests?"
"Regrettably, that is correct. You may certainly let her know that she is loved, in fact please do so, but at the same time she should be made to understand that although the attitude and manners she can use with people other than our master can, with his permission, sometimes be almost that appropriate between equals, her attitude towards and obedience of her master, and to you as his representatives, must always be one of absolute subservience. For her to think otherwise could be a recipe for disaster."
"But how can we do that? How can we even start... oh the poor girl." Molly was nearly in tears.
"I have not consulted my master at length about this, however when i spoke with him a moment ago, he permitted me to have some autonomy on the subject, and so until I do consult him as to the details, may I suggest that you do not over-emphasise our master's leniency to Sara, and also, that you use some form of punishment, be it merely a scolding—although some form of physical punishment would be safer—whenever she says or does anything to which the bond might object. It may not have to be corporal punishment, although that would almost certainly be the most effective, and unfortunately that is to what both she and her bond are accustomed.
"She should be encouraged to tell you immediately of any transgression and to accept, and even show her gratitude, at least by verbally thanking you, for any punishment you give her. After all, your punishment will stop the bond from exacting its own more painful punishment, so indeed she will be and should be grateful for it."
Molly had collapsed back on to the sofa. Arthur, perhaps made of sterner stuff, enquired, "But how are we to know what the bond expects... what it 'thinks' should be punished? I hate the idea of corporal punishment of any child, but if what you say is correct... and of course, as you are representing Harry, it must be right, you wouldn't be able to lie about it. . . Not that you would about such a subject anyway of course," he added hurriedly, "so we will have to do as you say I suppose, but as I said, how are we to know when to punish her and how much is needed, and if we can get away with just a scolding or a non-physical punishment?"
"Sara herself will be able to advise you. She will know almost instinctively when she has acted or spoken inappropriately, and once you have corrected her she will be able to feel if the bond finds it sufficient.
At the moment she is worried that since you have not corrected any of her behaviour by any punishment at all, when our master next visits he will have to give her a severe correction; that is, all her punishments at once. Her former master used to give her a painful so-called 'obedience lesson' each month or even more often, and I'm sure that would have been in addition to any punishments she had received any time she transgressed. She had not even considered what punishment the bond itself might impose. Probably due to the frequency of those so-called 'lessons', her bond has never felt it necessary to punish her itself, so she is probably not aware, or not fully aware, of what such punishment might entail."
"But she hasn't done anything wrong! She is the best behaved child I have ever known!" Molly protested vehemently.
"Actually, I am sure she has. For instance, she told me that she recently broke one of your cups; that is something that, as she is aware of it, so will her bond be aware of it, and for which it will expect her master, or you as his representatives, to punish her. It will probably allow a period of time, perhaps even as much as a month or two, for that punishment to happen – especially as she feels remorse for it and recognises that she should be punished for it..."
"But she shouldn't! It was a complete accident!" Molly exclaimed indignantly.
Severus shook his head. "Unfortunately that does not excuse us; it does not excuse a slave. We must not be so careless as to allow accidents to occur. The bond will think her deserving of punishment for carelessness with your property, if nothing else, as does Sara herself." He ignored Molly's spluttering and continued, "As I was saying, the bond will allow some period of time to pass before starting to punish her itself. After all, a master cannot be expected to rush to punish his slaves immediately they offend, as that might be inconvenient for him.
"I suggest you punish her or at least scold her severely and as soon as possible for that, and for any other offences of which she tells you...and you must insist that she tells you of every one. Actually, you will probably not need to insist as she herself will wish to confess any transgression because she will be urged to do so by the bond spell.
"Remember, if you do not punish her at the time, then either my master, when he visits, will have to punish her for several things all at once, or the bond will. Neither of those options is pleasant. Although my master is starting to understand the less pleasant aspects of being our master, I believe that were he forced to punish her severely it would distress him greatly. He is yet a child himself, and an unusually kind child at that."
"What about alternative punishments such as time-out or withdrawal of privileges?"
"You can certainly try them, and if you do then Sara will be able to tell if they satisfy the requirements of her bond, but they are unlikely to be completely effective unless her transgression is minor, because even the most recent slave bonds were created in times, not so long ago, when corporal punishment was the accepted norm in both our world and the muggle one, not only for slaves but also for wives, one's own children, apprentices, schoolchildren, retainers and other free servants, and other sorts of consequences were hardly considered to be punishments at all. And as I said before, Sara and I are subject to bonds originally created long ago, at least a thousand years ago, probably more, and what was considered a normal punishment then would truly appall you now. Even though many of the ancient bonds have mellowed greatly over the years and in response to the changing views of some later masters, they are still a century or two behind the permissiveness of our times. "
"However, so long as you do what is required at the time, there may be no need for you to be overly severe, at least that is my hope. I think that even if the bond insists on corporal punishment, then two or three, or at the most four or five, reasonably light strokes of a cane over her clothed behind for each relatively minor transgression might suffice to satisfy the bond spell, and as she seems to be determined to be a good and obedient servant, there are not likely to be as many instances of her misbehaving as there might be with any other child. . . This, no doubt, all seems strange and even revolting to you, but Sara will be much happier if you do as I suggest. At present she is a worried little girl, and with good reason."
"Oh!" Molly was crying again, and Arthur was hard put not to join her.
"There is no need to distress yourself unduly Mrs Weasley. Whatever punishments you have to give her are certain to be less than she has been accustomed to receive, so she will still consider you both to be remarkably kind and indulgent."
"Is there no way the bond can be altered, no way of getting around it at all?" Arthur asked.
"No direct way as far as I'm aware, not immediately at least, however it's possible that over time her bond may become aware that she is in the possession of an indulgent master and gradually soften its attitude in response to that knowledge."
"You keep speaking of her bond as if it is capable of reasoning."
"In an extremely limited sense, it is. When created they were given sets of general rules to which the slaves must comply and what punishments must be given before any transgression were to be forgiven. Nevertheless, slave bonds, to a limited degree, are usually aware of anything the slave itself is consciously aware of—of whatever the slave experiences—and from that they have, again only to some degree, the ability to learn and adjust to what the master wishes - to what pleases or displeases him, how severe or lenient he likes to be. Regrettably, they are unintelligent and learn slowly, and they also tend to adjust to a severe master more quickly than they adjust to a kind one. . .or so it has always seemed to me. . .
At that moment Sara appeared at the lounge room door and holding a piece of parchment. Molly turned aside to disguise her emotion. Severus greeted Sara and held out his hand for the letter. He read it through quickly, then automatically, as if it were a potions essay he was marking, but thankfully in blue not red ink, amended it by adding a couple of commas, deleting three others, changing a 'quiet' to 'quite' and adding–after a "tsk" of disapproval—the letters 'ly' to several adjectives to turn them into the adverbs they should have been, but did nothing else either to alter the grammar or improve the penmanship, both of which he found acceptable for a child of her age.
"This is quite well written Sara, and shows your proper gratitude. Do you wish to send it by your owl as I suggested earlier, or would you like me to take it with me? I shall be with our master very soon after I return to Hogwarts."
"Thank you sir… I think…please take it with you...It really is respectful enough? I don't want to make master angry."
"No, do not distress yourself. It is written exactly as it should be, so our master will be pleased with it and with its author, I'm sure."
Sara blushed. "Thank you sir."
Severus stood up from the armchair he'd been sitting in. "Now, forgive me everyone, but I must bid you goodbye for now and return to Hogwarts, as my master may be awaiting my report on my visit here... If anyone has other questions or if there is anything I can help you with, please contact me by floo or owl… Molly and Arthur, my master has directed me to put myself at your convenience, so do not hesitate to ask."
When Severus had left through the floo and Sara had gone back upstairs to unpack her new trunks, Arthur commented to his wife, "Even though Harry has apparently told him to help us with Sara, I don't think we should bother him with anything unless it's urgent. The poor man must have enough to do as it is, what with teaching, being Slytherin's head of house and also being at Harry's beck and call at all times. I understand he gives him private lessons in potions which must be time consuming and he probably helps him in in his other subjects as well."
"Oh dear, do you think so? I suppose he did look rather tired, now you've mentioned it. . .though he always has looked pale hasn't he? But he does seem to have a high opinion of Harry so surely he can't be all that demanding."
"Mm, but after being owned by Malfoy, and I've heard tales of how disgustingly cruel he was to him, then James and Lily, and then Harry, must seem wonderful by contrast… As Severus is always so dignified and treats almost everyone like an equal, it's all too easy to forget what being a slave must really be like for him. Do you think I should have a word with Harry? He probably doesn't realise what long hours Severus must work."
"It might be a good idea, or perhaps mention it to Albus and let him tell Harry?"
"I'll do that ...Having a master again after about ten years of comparative freedom must be awfully difficult for him too, however good Harry is to him."
"But you know Arthur, I feel sorry for Harry as well," Molly said, shaking her head. "It must have been an awful shock to him to find out he owned a slave, and then to have to rescue Sara as well."
"Not to mention these latest revelations about their bonds. I wonder how he's coping with having to play the master to Snape. . .let alone how he might feel if he has to punish Sara like Severus thinks he will, especially if we don't – from what we know of him, he's definitely not the sort of perverted character to enjoy that...which means we really must try to be stricter with her, for his sake as well as hers. Oh damn it all."
"Well dear, you'd better ask Professor Dumbledore what he thinks about it all when you ask him to make sure Severus isn't being overworked."
"Not much point in doing that; he won't be able to do anything about how Harry treats Snape or what Harry asks him to do, apart from advising him that is, but he might be able to reduce Sev's official workload to compensate for the extra work Harry causes him. . . Somehow I don't think he will though."
"Of course he will! Once he realises what long hours Severus must be working."
"Perhaps you're right dear." I don't think so. You always have more faith in the headmaster's good nature than I have Molly dear.
