Chapter 9: The unbreakable vow
"You're late," Severus scolded before Devery even neared his side and when she didn't say anything back, Severus finally looked her way and it was as if the last two years never happened.
Severus eye's softened when he took in her drawn features and his black eyes glowed with the same shine as the lake behind them.
Dreariness wrapped up with a broody mask.
"Come here," He beaconed softly and Devery felt her lower lip tremble. She was crying before she realised it again and she let Severus pull her into a tight hug. Severus smelt like herbs and she always found his scent calming. This was familiar.
She was getting a hug from the first friend she ever made outside of her family, again.
In that moment, they were not seventeen, they were two kids. She knew Severus way before she met Lily and anyone else from Hogwarts. Their families went to the pureblood gatherings back in the day and Severus took her under her wing. In a way, Severus was like an older brother she never had.
Severus let her cry it all out in his arms, while he softly patted her back and whispered that it was okay. This wasn't the first time he did this and he expected it wouldn't be the last. Severus felt a pang of nostalgia while he looked around the deck, they stood up on the docks by the lake.
He used to hangout a lot here with Devery and Lily back in the day.
Devery's sobs started to calm down and Severus pulled out a clean handkerchief for her to use.
"Thank you," Devery started to dab her wet cheeks but she didn't pull away from Severus and neither did he. She felt a lot better now. Severus always had a calming effect on her emotions.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked and Devery shook her head. Severus reluctantly backed off on the subject and he gently led Devery to sit on their usual spot on the jetty. Once they got comfortable, Severus pulled out some paper bags from his school bag. He wordlessly passed one to Devery and they started to eat their sandwiches.
Devery's mouth quirked when she realised Severus kept his promise in bringing, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for them both from the Hogwarts kitchens.
They continued to eat in silence but neither of them found the absence of conversation unnerving. It was a comfortable and familiar silence that would somehow always exist between them.
Severus then pulled out two plastic cups and a thermos. He poured out two generous proportions of hot chocolate and Devery looked at him oddly when he passed her a cup.
"You'll need it," Severus hugged his boney knees to his chest and stared out at the lake. His keen black eyes spotted a few merpeople jumping above the surface in the distance and he calmly watched them play. They looked so carefree, something he was no longer.
Devery kept her attention on Severus. She watched that front he kept up as a snobby-nosed and emotionless Slytherin fall away in that moment. All she saw was the cautious but lost little boy, he buried deep inside.
Severus has had it tough but so had she.
"Do you feel alright to talk about why we're really here, now?" Severus asked with his eyes still on the lake and Devery let out a deep sigh.
"As if I have a choice to say no," she replied. Severus couldn't help but smirk a little at her reply and Devery sighed again.
"What is it, Sev?"
Severus reached to hold Devery's hand and he pulled out his wand, looking quite serious all of a sudden.
"Do you know what an unbreakable vow is and what it entails?"
Devery couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Of course, I do, but what does it have to do with us?"
"Everything," Severus's voice spoke volumes and Devery started to feel nervous.
"Severus?"
"I can't tell you what I know unless you agree to do an unbreakable vow with me, Devery."
Devery took her hand back. "And, if I don't?"
"He'll devour all of us," Severus stressed out with worried eyes.
"Who are you talking about, Severus?" Devery demanded.
"You have to do the vow first before I can answer that."
Devery started to feel fed up then and she stood up, abruptly.
"I am not damning myself further," she sneered and Severus just looked up at her.
"I know who you really are, Devery," he said and Devery immediately went into defensive mode.
"You don't know shit about me, Severus!" She yelled inside his head but Severus didn't react to her anger.
"The unbreakable vow will benefit you as much as it will for me," Severus explained in a calmer voice. Devery snorted.
"Which is nothing, so why bloody suggest it?"
Devery suddenly found herself in a staring match with Severus and it gripped her insides. She couldn't look away.
"I know what you and your mother did to my parents," Severus stood up tall and Devery quickly grew lost for words. She knew exactly what Severus was talking about and she was utterly blindsided. Severus knew she was in that moment; her green eyes were like wide saucers.
Severus took one step closer and lowered his voice.
"My father loved to lock me in the kitchen cupboard while he fought my mother. He wanted me to watch, you see, so he fitted a special peephole as well. He was so thoughtful that way," Severus grumbled in disdain and Devery backed up with a small step.
"He installed the peephole just before my last venture into that cupboard when I was eleven. I remember it like it was just yesterday. The drunken yelling. My mother, throwing the dishes. It was the usual mess until I heard a slight humming. The kitchen started to repair themselves and your mother, of all people, walked in with a little Devery behind her grand robes. She said, she was giving you a lesson."
"Severus-
"I'm not finished, Devery and then the dandiest thing happened, your supposed mute mother sang. She bewitched my parents to stop fighting each other and they stopped before she apparated with you."
"Severus-
"That was the last time my parents were physically abusive with each other," Severus finally finished his story with tormented eyes before he gave a dark laugh.
"But funnily enough, it didn't stop the neglect or verbal abuse."
"My mute mother, singing and talking?" Devery looked at him like he was crazy. "You're out of your mind." Severus gave her a dole glare.
"It took me a couple of years to figure it out," Severus continued, ignoring her earlier accusation. "It wasn't until Slughorn gave me clearance to check out the restricted section for a potion that I found the answer. I know you have a voice, Devery and it is more powerful than the imperius curse."
Devery's eyes hardened, "you know nothing." Severus narrowed his dark eyes and he pushed his way into her mind.
"I know you're a Siren, Devery."
Playtime was over then and Severus was prepared when Devery unsheathed her wand. He quickly disarmed her and collected her wand before Devery used her wandless magic to make him loose his footing.
Severus went down hard on his side and he muttered a quick spell to tie Devery's hands together. Severus tsked at his old friend.
"Always one for the dramatics," he scoffed and Devery didn't skip another beat, she tried to pull off her necklace to use the last weapon, she had in her arsenal.
But Severus was too brilliant, he muttered a few more charms and Devery fell on her behind. The git paralyzed her arms and legs.
"If you kept a low profile with your occlumency and didn't get involved with Black, this would've never happened," Severus scoffed again.
"Sirius has nothing to do with this," Devery warned with angry green eyes.
"And yet, you're teaching him telepathy," Severus shook his head in disappointment.
"And, why should that matter to you?!"
Severus sighed in frustration and thought to hell with it. He didn't say a word and simply pulled up his right sleeve. Devery's eyes widened in horror when she saw his dark mark. He had joined who know who's death eaters. Severus quickly covered it up again.
"Severus?" Devery's voice dripped heavily with disappointment and Severus frowned.
"You are in no position to judge me," he snapped.
"So, what happens now, Snivellus?" Severus flinched when Devery called him that hateful nickname.
"Are you going to deliver me and my family to your psycho of a master?"
"No," Severus answer shocked Devery to the bone. "I am repaying a debt I owe to your mother for the sake of mine and then, you and I, are going to come to an accord."
"You, mean an unbreakable vow?"
Severus just nodded and Devery released a deep breath. Severus had really backed her into a corner this time.
"I had no fighting chance, did I?" She moped and Severus took a seat beside her, holding both of their wands.
"I'm not just doing this because your mother stopped the physical abuse in my family, Devery, I am doing this for you… and for Lily," Severus trailed off with a sad look in his eyes.
"And what do you want in return?" Devery gulped, feeling uneasy under Severus's gaze.
"When the time comes, I will ask for three favours and you will do them without complaint."
Devery raised her eyebrows, "I am not a genie, Severus and this is blackmail."
"It's better than the alternative," he told her otherwise and Devery sighed in defeat.
"Fine, I'll do it. Untie me," she reluctantly agreed and Severus worked quickly to only untie one of her hands. He grabbed it with a firm grip and didn't return her wand.
"What?" Devery raised her eyebrows. "Don't you trust me?"
Severus ignored her and eyed her necklace. "You have to speak for this to work." Devery just nodded her consent and Severus used magic to remove her necklace.
As soon as her necklace unclasped itself, Severus started the incarnation for the unbreakable vow and Devery couldn't move away. The incarnation glued their palms together and anything she could say to dissuade Severus from taking this path would prove fruitless. Once the incarnation began, everything you said bounded you to the other.
"Do you, Deveral Leafwood, promise to not tell anyone I am a death eater and promise to not cause me harm?" Severus questioned.
"I will," Devery vowed and a string of red and yellow light engulfed their joint hands. Severus faltered a little at the sound of her musical voice. After Devery's mother, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.
"Do you, Deveral Leafwood, promise to not put Lily Evans in danger due to being a Siren?"
"I do and never will," Devery vowed strongly.
"Do you, Deveral Leafwood, promise to grant, I, Severus Snape, three favours when I request it?"
"I will," Devery reluctantly agreed. "Anything else, you slithering snake?" She grumbled and Severus shook his head.
"Do you, Severus Snape, promise to not tell anyone I am a Siren and promise to not tell anyone my family comes from a long line of Sirens?"
"I will," Severus agreed.
"Do you, Severus Snape, promise to not cause me and my family harm and to not use your powers against us?"
"I will."
"Do you, Severus Snape, promise to help my family and I, if the Dark Lord or any of his followers learn the truth of us?"
Severus gave her a 'duh' look, "I will," he vowed and Devery continued with her last request and for once, she blindsided the great Slytherin.
"Do you, Severus Snape, promise to grant, I, Deveral Leafwood, three favours when I request it?"
Severus's face darkened then and grimly agreed.
"I will," he said, "are you done?"
Devery nodded and Severus finished the unbreakable vow. Devery gladly released his hand and reached for her wand. She untied her other hand and broke the other spells, Severus placed on her. She then reached for a cup of hot chocolate and drank it.
"That wasn't so hard now was it, Devery?" Severus reached for his own cup of hot chocolate.
"Lily can't know this," Devery then started to hum a low tune to exercise her voice while she could.
"She won't hear it from me," Severus agreed. "Oh, I know you won't Severus," Devery agreed, sounding a little old and Severus went to re-clip Devery's necklace around her throat but he wasn't fast enough.
Without any warning, Devery had already dug deep into her Siren powers and she started to sing a higher tune. Severus cursed when his dark eyes connected with Devery's circling green ones but it was too late. Devery hypnotized him, instantly.
She did not feel right at all about doing this but Severus brought it onto himself. He made his bed and now he had to lie in it and Devery dug deeper into her Siren abilities like the elders of her family taught her too.
She saw the merpeople in the distance take cover and fish suddenly grew scarce underneath the jetty where they sat. Devery then focused all of her attention on Severus and sang him a wordless lullaby so she could lure his mind further into her control.
She watched his pupils dilate, the more she sang and that was how she knew Severus was completely under her spell.
"You will never entrap me or another Siren like this again, Severus Snape. You are not my friend. We do not owe each other anymore than what was said in our unbreakable vow. You will keep your word and so will I. If you hear anything about the Dark Lord looking for Sirens or anyone for that matter, you will immediately come to tell me and then forget you ever did. That is an order and I order you to not tell another soul about our unbreakable vow," Devery's silky voice breezed through his ears and rewired his mind with her orders.
"In fact, when I click my fingers, you will have no recollection of me using my Siren abilities on you, Severus. You will only know, you fucked up big time and as payback for your transgressions, for as long as Lily Evans lives, you will keep your distance and let her live, however she chooses," Devery ordered without a speck of regret.
"You will also mind your own business, my personal problems are no longer your concern. You are nothing but my spy behind enemy lines," Devery proclaimed and she continued to hum while she put on her necklace again. Her dreamy voice disappeared instantly and the fishes came back, behind the wooden jetty.
Severus just nodded dumbly in agreement and he started to recite her orders like a broken record player. That was how Devery knew her hypnosis worked and she clicked her fingers.
Severus blinked his dark eyes several times then and he looked a little confused before he started to frown at the cup of hot chocolate he held. He couldn't recall what just happened. He only remembered the vow and he wondered why the hell he was drinking hot chocolate with Devery.
"Right," he gave Devery a rather scathing look before he chucked his cup into the lake and he quickly stood up.
"Don't be an annoying swine, Devery and quit being lazy with occlumency," Severus ordered with dark eyes and picked up his school bag. Devery just sipped more of her hot chocolate.
"Get out of my sight, Snivellus. Only approach me if you got news," Devery narrowed her own eyes and a flash of hurt, enveloped his dark eyes when she called him that rude nickname. But it disappeared as quickly as it came.
"Blood-traitor," Severus scowled and stormed off.
Devery closed her eyes in great pain. There was no coming back from this. Yesterday, there was still a sliver of hope that she could be friends with Severus again but after today? There was no way in hell. He had taken things way too far. This was more than calling Lily a 'mudblood.'
He was a death eater and he somehow blackmailed her into earning three favours from a Siren. It was only fair what she just did back to him.