Chapter 11 Possession

a/n: I hope this isn't dragging on too long...I promise we are working hard to save Minerva! Just a few more chapters to go. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 11 Possession

Severus stood in silence, watching Albus Dumbledore pace furiously around his office, now littered with the broken debris of the casualties of his wrath. He was slowly calming and Severus waited, allowing the man time for his grief. The letter from the Dark Lord lay crumpled and flaming at his feet. When Dumbledore had broken the parchment's seal the icy, calculating voice of Voldemort sounded loudly in the air.

My Dear Professor;

I wanted to thank you for keeping our Minerva in such good shape all of these years. I daresay she has learned a few tricks that she did not possess in our years together. I so enjoyed reacquainting myself with her. Do not worry, I shall take care of your wife and see that she gets plenty of exercise.

You might also be pleased to know that Minerva has beaten the known record for receiving the most attacks of the Cruciatus Curse and surviving. No doubt there will be many more opportunities to test her stamina in the days ahead—"

The parchment burst into flames, Dumbledore's wand hand shaking with rage as he blasted it out of the air. When he finally stopped his pacing he seemed to remember Snape's presence, and turned to face him, steely calm anger reflected in his voice. "How many times was she hit?"

"I lost count at twelve."

Dumbledore swore loudly, a look of intense pain in his blue eyes. "Did she lose consciousness?"

"No. Not entirely, although afterwards she was unresponsive."

Dumbledore closed his eyes tightly for a moment and Severus thought he saw a tear escape from the corner of his lids, traveling down his crooked nose.

"She called him 'Tom', which infuriated him. He wished to force her to call him Lord V..Voldemort…but she refused. She never did. He would have stopped her torture, but she just…she's just so—"

"So bloody stubborn," Dumbledore finished for him.

Snape nodded. "They know about you, also. He told the others that you and Minerva are married. And then..," Merlin how he hated this! "He gave her to Crabbe and Goyle for the night." He stared intently at the wizard before him. His face was unreadable, but he could feel his anger as its swell caused his magic to crackle through the atmosphere around them.

After a long time, he spoke. "We have to get her out." Before there is nothing left. The thought stretched unspoken between them. "We meet with the others at eight this evening."

Severus nodded at him and turned to go, sensing his friend needed to be alone.

"Severus?"

The younger man paused at the door, his hand on the knob, and turned slightly to face him. "Yes?"

"Is there a chance you might have an opportunity to relay a message to Minerva?"

Severus blanched before turning a bright shade of red. "I believe I am to have 'time' with her tonight."

Dumbledore nodded, understanding. "Tell her I'm coming. To hold on," he said quietly.

"I will." And he closed the door behind him.

Dumbledore sank wearily into the chair behind his desk and picked up the only object in his office that remained intact after his angry tirade. It was a picture of Minerva taken many Christmases ago, her face bestowing upon him one of her rare, dazzling smiles. He ran his finger over the glass above her cheek and whispered, " I am coming, Min."

***********

The morning after her torture with the Cruciatus Curse she had had to be carried to him when he called for her. Her body weakened to the point of collapse she had found herself unable to stand. She cursed herself for this admission of frailty but despite her best effort could not suppress the pain still pulsing through her body and causing her limbs to disobey her.

Far worse than the brutal ravishment of her physical self was the systematic rape of her mind. She could keep nothing from him, her mental shields weakened to the point of nonexistence by the torture of her body. Her valiant yet failing attempts to resist his intrusions gave him intense pleasure as she was unable to mask her fear of him while he was present in the inner depths of her mind.

He probed viciously in her memories for hours at a time, voyeuristically lingering on the frightening, the painful, and the horrific. He mocked her happiness's and triumphs, and when he witnessed her recollection of she and Albus making love for the first time his anger swelled within her causing such agony that she fainted. She awoke with her head throbbing hours later, alone in her darkened cell.

The bath before her summons to him was becoming a daily ritual. The barren room would transform around her, new robes appearing in the wardrobe, and then she would be expected in the library. She always saw him alone, just Voldemort himself, with Naigini curled at his feet.

Now she sat across from him at the long dining room table, hands resting in her lap, concentrating intently on the food lying untouched before her.

"Not eating again, my dear? You really should eat, you know, you are getting to be frightfully thin. We must keep our strength up."

"Your concern for my well being is most touching," she said acidly.

Her sarcasm caused him to laugh. "Of course I am concerned about your health, Minerva. Weak kittens are no fun to play with." The angry flash in her green eyes made him laugh harder, the reference to her animagus form striking an obvious nerve. "That's the idea, isn't it? You are starving yourself?"

She said nothing, knowing he was reading her thoughts.

"I could Imperious you and force you to eat." She glared at him. "Of course, you would prove particularly difficult to Imperious." He knew perfectly well in their Hogwarts days that no one in Defense Against the Dark Arts had been able to successfully cast the Imperious Curse on Minerva, himself included. She was too strong willed.

"I could have you restrained and let Wormtail spoon feed you." Her glare deepened. "Or better yet, I could have him skewered and roasted in his rat form and force feed him to you myself. Yes, I like that option best. Wormtail!" he called.

Minerva paled and forcefully stabbed at a piece of meat, stuffing it quickly into her mouth.

When Wormtail appeared at the door, Voldemort smiled coldly at her and said, "Never mind, Wormtail. The good Professor has just saved your life."

Pettigrew's face went ashen and Minerva choked down the bile rising in her throat. It had not been an empty threat.

"That's right, Minerva." She could feel him inside her mind, though he was speaking aloud, as much for Pettigrew's benefit as for hers. "I do not make empty threats. You would have done well to remember it. Perhaps you have forgotten our conversation all those years ago?"

Suddenly she was back in London, in the muggle house standing between Tom and the little girl with blonde curls, sobbing into her teddy bear. Her head did not turn, but her eyes darted furtively about. Where in Merlin's name was Alastor? She was so shocked to see Tom enter the room that he had disarmed her easily, his presence still registering even as she heard him speak "expelliarmus!"

She felt her heart racing, breath catching in her throat as the realization hit her—he had done this. He had tortured and murdered this family to get to her. She felt sick inside, but forced herself to remain calm.

"You should never have left me, Minerva. I told you not to." He said this as casually as if he had been telling a child with a tummy ache that they should not have eaten so many sweets. His coldness unnerved her.

"Stand aside, Minerva."

When she did not move, he screamed at her, his rage emanating in a terrifying force, "Stand aside!"

She stood there, staring at him. She could feel the little girl's trembling body pressed against the back of her legs, clutching to her robes. "Tom, how could you do this? What kind of a monster have you become?"

His eyes narrowed. "You caused this Minerva, you should never have left me. Go running after Dumbledore if you must, be his whore. But you are mine. You will never be rid of me. I promise you."

From the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of Alastor in the doorway as she felt his curse slam into her, saw the greenish light of Avada Kedavra as she fell, the metallic taste of blood in her mouth and the sticky warmth spreading over her…

She blinked against the brightness of his exit from her mind, and her sudden return to reality. "I see you have not forgotten," she heard him saying, "I told you that you would never be rid of me." She struggled to maintain her composure as she tried desperately to force the horrible image of the dead little girl from her memory.

"You are mine, Minerva." She shook her head, not yet trusting herself to speak.

"Why hasn't your beloved husband come to rescue you? You have been here for four days. Of course, it's understandable that he wouldn't want you anymore. I sent him news of your recent activities here, and of course, after all, he gave you in trade for those muggle brats—"

"Albus knew nothing about that!" She snapped, her anger rising.

"Perhaps he is a coward, then." He said silkily, his hand running through her dark tresses behind her.

"Albus Dumbledore is no coward! He is ten times the man and wizard you will ever be!" she spat the words at him, rising abruptly and moving out of his reach.

"Not anymore, love. I have you, now."

"Don't call me that!" she shouted, stepping backward as he advanced slowly towards her. He reached out, cupping her chin with his icy fingers as she felt her back come in contact with the wall.

"I will call you what I like. As I have said, you are mine again."

"Why? Why do you want me, Tom? You never loved me." Her voice was still laced with defiance, but there was also genuine curiosity in the question.

"You are the best, Minerva. And I only take the best. It is the right of power. You are the only thing Dumbledore has ever had over me. Without you, he is not as strong. With you, I am stronger."

"Dumbledore has many things over you, Lord Voldemort." His eyes flashed dangerously, but she continued, "There are other powers besides fear."

He sneered at her, his grip tightening around her jaw, but she fought back the wince of pain. "Like love, Minerva? Love and honesty, and kindness? Integrity?" His voice mocked her. "That power won't save you from me. I will break you, Minerva. I will teach you the power of fear."

His red eyes bored into her, but she returned his stare unblinking. "Love conquers fear, Tom," she managed to whisper quietly. "Always."

"We shall see, love." He lowered his mouth to hers and again his kiss drew all the air from her body. She grew dizzy, her lungs burning as the oxygen was vacuumed from them. He let her drop to her knees. "The game is simple, love. We will play until you learn the rules. It ends when you ask me to end it. It is a game of torture, a power struggle between you and I. We play as long as you wish."

She looked up at him, not comprehending. The room was still spinning from her lack of air. He knelt down in front of her, steadying her swaying form with his hands.

"It's easy to play, Minerva. All you have to do is ask me to stop, and it's all over."

"You'll kill me, then?" she asked shakily. That was too easy, she thought.

"No, no love. You don't get to die. There is no fun in that. When I have broken you, you will beg me to stop your torture. You will beg me to have mercy. And I will. I am merciful to my followers. You will have no more nights of playing hostess to my Death Eaters. You will share a bed with me, and not be confined to that cold cell. You will belong solely to me. When you beg me, you will pledge yourself to me."

"Never."

"We shall see."