Many thanks go out to one of the best betas ever, anogete. More thanks also to my faithful readers and reviewers; I am so flattered that you are all enjoying this story so much!
Obligatory: None of these things belong to me; they all belong to JKR. I just like to have a bit of fun with them, and no profit is desired.
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Hermione sat dutifully and silently on the edge of one of the armchairs before the fire in Severus' room. She didn't dare speak, as he was pacing furiously in front of the door, his chin tucked tightly between his thumb and forefinger, and his face twisted into the ugliest of expressions.
By all rights, she should have been terrified. It was all well and good to imagine that she could convince him of his place on the side of good when she was tucked in her bed at Hogwarts, but it was entirely another to consider it when she was his prisoner in a house full of Death Eaters. Still, he had not yet been unusually cruel to her, so things were off to a promising start.
She was twisting the fabric of her uncomfortable and unsightly robes between her fingers when she noticed that he had stopped pacing and was standing before her, staring at her, his hand over his chest.
"There are some things that we must discuss, but I believe that it will have to wait until morning. Today's events have worn on my nerves, and I would like nothing more than to have a drink, a vial of Dreamless Sleep potion, and a very long rest. For now, I will simply ask you once again to hold your tongue and stay out of my way."
Hermione kept her gaze locked on the floor. "Yes, sir," she answered meekly.
"The Dark Lord expects me to get my enjoyment out of you, so it will not amuse him to find that I have been sleeping on the floor while you have rested in the comforts of my bed. If it is not too distasteful for you, you may share my bed, but you must cover yourself and never touch me. Do I make myself clear?" He bent down and whispered the last words threateningly in her ear.
"Yes, sir." Hermione felt a riotous tear fall from her eye as she spoke, but she swallowed back the whimper that desperately wanted to accompany it.
"Very well. Stand up." He backed away and waited for her to comply. When she did, he pointed his wand at her.
"Please don't hurt me." The words slipped uncontrollably from Hermione's lips.
"Will you cease that nonsense?" Severus roared. After a few moments, he controlled his temper and spoke again. "I have no desire to see you traipsing about in this costume Bellatrix has given you, so you will have to forgive me if I lack knowledge of teenage fashion trends."
A few flicks of his wand later, and Hermione felt her hair tumble back around her face. She looked down to discover a grey jumper, conservative black skirt and black tights. She certainly wouldn't have picked the ensemble for herself, but it was considerably better than the trash with which Bellatrix had outfitted her.
"Is that acceptable?" Severus eyed his handiwork with mocking amusement.
"Thank you, sir." Hermione looked at the bed out of the corner of her eye and trembled. He had been nice to her thus far, but what was to become of her in this room? To what test would she be put? What pain would she experience? How much of herself was she about to risk? Part of her told her to trust Severus, to recognize his behavior as an attempt to protect her, but the other part screamed for her to remember who he was, and to remember that, whatever fancies she held, he was still in a position of favor enough with Voldemort to get a sex toy for a gift.
"Stop standing there like a bloody fish out of water and get ready for bed! The necessary is through that door." Severus pointed at one door, and then the other. "That one is off limits unless you have my permission. Do you understand me? Because I will not hesitate to punish you if you disobey me."
"I understand, sir." With her head lowered, Hermione moved towards the bathroom to make ready for bedtime. She initially wanted to ask him if she was to have any kind of clothes in which to sleep, but she thought better of it. One set of all-purpose clothing was better than nothing.
Staring at herself in the mirror, Hermione thought of the absurdity of the entire situation. All this time, she had been wishing to find some way of bringing Severus Snape back to the side of light to help her save Harry, but she never really allowed herself to believe that she would ever have the opportunity. Now, she had been kidnapped - by whom, she still had no idea - and she would be spending a great deal of time with the man who had occupied her thoughts for so many weeks. What was she to do now?
She was too tired to think about it for too long, and, obediently, she exited the bathroom and dashed to the bed where she silently slid in and perched herself on the very edge. She didn't hazard a glance at Severus, who was standing next to the fire in silent contemplation.
Some time later, she felt the mattress compress next to her and it awakened her. He did not touch her, and he did not speak, but his breathing was deep and unsteady, as though he were trying to force himself to be calm and fall asleep. She never found out if he did sleep, because she was herself pulled back into slumber, and when she awoke, he was already pacing about the room.
"Get up, Miss Granger. You need to eat and get yourself together. You must make haste, because I have some things to tell you, but then I have some errands to run and must return you to The Cell." He clenched his fists and sat down in one of the armchairs before the fire.
Hermione rubbed the sleep from her eyes and got up to relieve herself and splash some water on her face. There was a bathtub, but she didn't want to test Severus' temper by insisting she take a shower. She hoped desperately for the opportunity to do so soon, as she wasn't sure how long Bellatrix's cleansing charms would keep filthiness at bay in this place.
She came out to find that he had coffee and muffins for her to eat. It wasn't very much food at all, especially for an English breakfast, but she didn't find that she felt up to eating too much, even if she could muster the courage to speak up about it.
Severus sipped from a mug of black coffee and stared at her as she ate. As requested, she ate as quickly as possible without looking like a pig, and she kept her silence as she had promised.
Severus' voice suddenly sounded in his most controlled of tones. "The Dark Lord tells me that you have taken your N.E.W.T.s and have begun an apprenticeship in Potions."
"I have, sir."
"Yes, well, despite your heritage, he believes that you can be of some use to us, aside from my own physical gratification." The corners of his mouth twitched up into a smirk before returning to a more sour expression.
"Use, sir?" Hermione shuddered at the thought of being of 'some use' to Voldemort.
"Yes. I detest working with others, Miss Granger, and, even more so, I hate Gryffindors and am particularly annoyed by you. Were things not as they are, I would dispose of you now to save myself much trouble. You should be grateful, then, that things are as they are." He cleared his throat.
"I am grateful, sir." She held back her tears.
"Good. As you may have guessed already, the other door here leads to a laboratory, one that I use to prepare potions for the Dark Lord and my fellow Death Eaters. I have got along quite well by myself, but now the Dark Lord feels that I need some assistance as the need for potions increases. He has decided that my assistance is to be you." He sighed in irritation.
"You actually expect me to help Voldemort?" Hermione's disgust at the suggestion got the better of her, and she blurted out the words.
"Do not say his name!" Severus' eyes burned with anger as they bore holes through Hermione, but he quickly regained his composure. "Yes, I do, if you are anything resembling a rational human being."
Hermione had played the part of the obedient servant for far too long, and she felt compelled to test her captor. "A rational human being would not give aid and comfort to the enemy, sir."
"Are you really going to sit there and tell me that you would refuse to make healing potions for the Dark Lord and risk death?" Severus chuckled. "You are more insufferable than I thought, and certainly more stupid."
"It would be akin to betrayal if I were to save the lives of the people trying to kill my own friends!" Hermione's façade of cooperation broke down completely, and her cheeks were heated.
"You will do as I say!" Severus roared, rising from his chair and pacing in front of the fire, his hand returning to his chest as he grimaced. "I will be ordered to kill you if you do not!"
"Then you will have to kill me." Hermione knew that it was a bluff, but she attempted it nonetheless.
"Do not test me, girl, for I will not hesitate to end your meaningless existence if you disobey me. If you wish to get out of here alive, you will make the potions I ask you to make. If you wish to maintain this ridiculous bravery in the face of danger that is so irritatingly characteristic of your house, you will likely be put in the hands of Lucius, or worse, Bellatrix."
The words had their intended effect, and Hermione shuddered with fear at the thought of her fate in the hands of Lucius Malfoy. However, his comment about bravery in the face of danger as a characteristic of her house made her think about Dumbledore, and the comment gave Hermione some hope that her theory that Dumbledore knew what Severus would be forced to do may be correct.
Still, she could not resist pushing the envelope a bit further. "And what precisely will you be doing whilst I am making Calming Draughts and the like, sir?"
"That is none of your business," he snapped. "Will you accept this challenge, or will you be foolhardy?"
Hermione's eyes shone brightly with defiance, but her voice was steady and saccharine. "If it is your wish, sir, that I assist you, then I will do it."
"It is not my wish, but as it is the wish of the Dark Lord, it must necessarily be mine," he grumbled. "I warn you not to attempt any tricks, however, for while you may be the least moronic of Hogwarts students, I am still a Potions master and not ignorant to the ways of sabotaging the most innocuous of brews."
"Yes, sir." Hermione allowed herself to relax minutely.
"Now, in light of your return to sensibility, I must speak with the Dark Lord, so I will be returning you to The Cell." Severus motioned towards the door. "I will not be long. Behave yourself with the others, and there shall be no problems. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." Hermione stood and looked into his eyes steadily for the first time.
"Good. Let us go." Without so much as a backwards glance, Severus made for the door.
They walked in silence, Hermione just a pace behind, and encountered no one on their way to The Cell. Once there, Severus silently unwarded the door and motioned for Hermione to go inside. As usual, Draco and his ragged army sat motionless on the floor, presumably pretending to sleep.
"I will return soon," Severus told her quietly, before turning and disappearing behind the wall.
"Alright, you lot, you can wake up now," Hermione announced, taking a seat next to Draco.
"Welcome back, Lieutenant. Would you like some breakfast?" Draco held up a piece of stale bread with a grimace.
"No, thank you," Hermione replied with a smirk. "I don't know how long I'll be here. Snape said he has to go speak with the Dark Lord about something, so I'm sure he'll be back soon."
"Did you find out anything?" inquired Draco.
"Nothing terribly interesting. I have apparently been selected to make healing potions for the enemy so that he has time to do other things." Hermione let out a sigh of irritation, still sore over the fact that she would need to help Voldemort in order to attempt to save her friends.
"Other things? What kinds of things, exactly?" Elizabeth suddenly perked up.
"I don't know, but I can only assume that it's to brew other, more complicated, potions. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out what he's up to while we're working together."
Draco rubbed at his temples. "He'll be making dark potions for sure. This is a very interesting development."
"You mean to tell me that they've had the best Potions master in the United Kingdom making Blood Replenishing Potion all this time and nothing dark?" Hermione was becoming more and more bewildered the more information she gathered.
"I know, it is very strange, but I get the feeling that it's been some kind of test. Whatever the test was, he's passed it now and has moved on to the next one." Draco tapped his finger to his lips in thought. "I think that we should take this as good news, however. Perhaps if you can figure out what he's making, we can figure out the enemy's plan. Are you familiar with dark potions?"
"It's pretty much all I've been studying in Potions for the last several months. Did you know that there is a potion made with Doxy skin that gives you the uncontrollable urge to eat your own flesh?" Hermione shuddered, remembering how Caveo had described the potion's effects.
"Potions are a nasty business, to be sure. Be alert, Lieutenant. You must attempt to determine what they're up to." Draco relaxed back against the wall next to Hermione.
"It will be difficult, for sure. Severus is not exactly thrilled about getting me as a gift, so it's likely that he won't be too happy about me peeking at length into his cauldron, so to speak." Hermione frowned.
"Has he hurt you?" Draco asked in a hushed and almost concerned voice.
"No, not yet. He's actually been rather kind to me. Well, kind for Severus Snape, I suppose." Hermione tugged at her jumper.
"I see he gave you some new clothes. Thank the Gods for that; those robes Bellatrix gave you were hideous!" Angelica chuckled as she fingered her own torn black robes.
As if on cue, the wards on the door melted away. Hermione expected to see Severus standing before them, but instead she saw Bellatrix there with an evil smirk on her face.
"Good morning, nephew and Mudbloods all. I've just come to say hello!" In greeting, she shot some kind of hex at Angelica that caused her to roll over in pain.
"And good morning to you, dear Aunt. What a pleasure it is to see you, as usual." Draco looked up at her with fierce hatred.
"I aim to please, nephew, as I would like to show you." She placed her wand inside the sleeve of her robes and glanced back and forth between Draco and Hermione.
Without a word ever having been spoken, Draco suddenly got to his feet as if entranced. Hermione didn't have time to wonder what he was doing before she felt the Imperius on her again, this time causing her to get onto her knees just inches from the General. As she fought to get free of the curse, she could see Draco doing the same to no avail.
Suddenly, Hermione found herself reaching up to unbutton Draco's trousers slowly. In her mind, Bellatrix told her to 'suck the traitor's cock like a good little Mudblood slave.' Despite her best efforts, all Hermione could do was comply.
As she reached out to stroke Draco's limp member, his voice sounded in her head, presumably through Silent Speech. "Good Merlin, Granger, fight it! Don't give in!"
"I can't, Malfoy; she's too strong!" Though not a tear had spilled from her eye, her silent voice was sobbing.
"This is all some sort of trick. You have to fight it. If Snape comes in here…"
But Draco never got to finish the sentence, because, without warning, Snape stormed back into the room as Hermione was about to place her mouth around Draco's growing erection.
"What is going on in here?" Snape roared to no one in particular.
Bellatrix cackled. "It seems your little chit was unsatisfied by you, Snape, and had to find enjoyment elsewhere." Hermione could see her carefully replace her wand back into the pockets of her robes, and she suddenly got the feeling that this whole incident had been staged.
Pushing Draco aside, Severus stood before Hermione, still on her knees and staring up at him with tears in her eyes. He pinned her completely motionless with his outraged stare before drawing his hand back and striking her so hard across the face, she felt as though her cheek were split in half. The pain and shock caused her to begin crying uncontrollably.
"I will deal with her," he snapped at Bellatrix before yanking Hermione up by her collar and dragging her back to his rooms.
As they walked through the halls, Hermione could feel the unadulterated rage emanating from Severus. For the first time, she truly began to fear him.