January 9th, 1977
—S—
Severus was through her mind, seeing the mundane, trying to look for something interesting all while being very cautious not to go too far. He felt as though going into Hermione's min was a mine field, and he desperately didn't want to. Yet there was no one else to help her test her strengthened occlumency shields, aside from the headmaster, and neither of them were about to ask Albus Dumbledore to go poking around in her head.
It was quite a pleasant experience, though, all danger aside. Hermione's mind was warm, and full of love, and if he revisited memories of their New Year's Eve together in the very room they were currently end, well, she would have to break eye contact to stop him.
"Are you trying to find a way to improve?" She asked aloud, the question echoing in her mind.
"My legilimency?" He asked.
"No, your performance. You seem to be going over and over the same thing. I realize that perhaps it may not have been our best time, but there's no reason …."
"Witch." He cut her off, noting the giddy joy in her mind before he gentle withdrew to see her smile. "Perhaps I just wanted to see what it felt like for you?"
"Perhaps, but I doubt that was your intention." She countered.
"Alright, perhaps I just like reliving it in general." He smirked.
"Give me a few days, and we won't need to relive a memory." Hermione teased, and Severus' smirk grew. He leaned in, kissing her firmly, intending on at least getting in a damn good snogging session on his birthday, when there as a tap on the window.
Growling as they separated, Severus got to his feet and moved to the window to relieve the owl of its burden. He opened the panes, allowing the freezing air to wash over him and cool his ardor before taking the parchment from the bird. It hooted before flying away, vanishing from sight as the snow fell heavy outside.
"From your mother?" Hermione asked just as Severus turned it over and noticed the seal on the envelope.
Something in him turned cold, and his heart fell into the pit of his stomach.
The dark mark in deep green, almost black wax, taunted him.
"No, it's not." He said, taking a deep breath, and cracking the seal.
Severus,
It's been brought to my attention that today is of great significance for you. I do hope this means we will be seeing you soon, as I look forward to having you apart of our family. In the meantime, I have written to invite you to a gathering I am planning for the evening of January the 29th. If you do not know how to apparate, please send word to Lucius, and we will be sure to have a portkey sent to you so that you may be present.
I look forward to seeing you there.
There was no signature, but there was no doubt whom the letter was from.
He looked up, seeing the worry etched on Hermione's face, and promptly returned to her.
"It's from him," He said. "An invitation."
"So soon?" She asked, chewing her lip.
"Not for the pair of us. I think … do you know what the Death Eaters do?" Severus asked cautiously. Hermione paled, lip released as she nodded once. "I have a feeling it's something related. A test, perhaps."
"You should inform Alastor." She said, and he smiled at the fact she didn't name the Headmaster as the person to turn to.
"I think I need to inform the headmaster. Given the reason, I'm sure he'll conveniently look the other way while I sneak out of the castle." Severus then grimaced, realizing there was one person who would likely be patrolling the gate, eager to catch anyone wanting to sneak back in. "Scamander will be an issue, though."
"Professor Scamander," Hermione corrected automatically, and Severus rolled his eyes. "But there is likely a way for you to sneak out, get past the wards of the school, without ever having stepped foot on the ground."
"What would that be?" Severus asked, and then he remembered. "The bloody map."
—H—
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," Sirius said the pass phrase as if he was trying to seduce the map, seemingly pleased with himself as the ink flowed and formed and revealed the map.
In another abandoned classroom, far from Severus' lab, Hermione had asked the boys to meet them where they wouldn't be seen by the Slytherins, or anyone for that matter. Only James and Sirius were able to come, Pettigrew stuck in detention for a late charms essay, and Lily and Remus off doing rounds.
"Exactly why can't Snape be seen with us again?" James asked, looking suspiciously at the spot where Severus was likely to be standing under the disillusionment charm.
"It's a thing for the Headmaster." Severus replied.
"What sort of thing?"
"Not a thing you need to know about, James Potter." Hermione snapped. "Much as I'm sure you hate to imagine it so, but the world does not revolve around you."
She heard Severus snort in amusement as James' face went red, reminding Hermione so much of an angry Harry that her heart ached. But, she noted, not as much as it once had. It had suddenly occurred to her that she had spent nearly the same amount of time with Harry's parents as she had with Harry himself.
How long, she wondered, before he was no longer Harry, her Harry, but the son of her friends? How long before she no longer felt a connection to the Boy-Who-Lived because she had long outgrown him, literally and metaphorically.
"Snape, I have no idea if you can see this, so I will point it out to Kitten," Sirius said, looking about the room before looking to Hermione. "It's not overly risky, I think, to take this path here." He said, pointing to the Whomping Willow. "You can take the humped witch slide to the Honeydukes cellar but depending on why you need to get out of the castle unseen…."
"Why do you need to get out of the castle unseen?" James asked. "Why should we help you?"
"Probably because you left us in possession of this very map, and you still got it back." Severus was sneering, Hermione could just tell.
"I never left it with you. Never would I ever." James countered.
"Prongs, you were more than willing to go with the git at the time. What's twisted 'round your antlers that's got you in a mood?"
"Probably the fact that, since that Hogsmeade visit, Snape here doesn't want to be seen with us. Or Lily, for that matter. And I heard you were meeting up with Lucius Malfoy after we'd gone."
Hermione's gaze shot from the map to James in warning. He glanced at her but didn't heed it.
"You know what I think? I think he's decided to become a Death Eater after all. Always knew he would."
"Are you purposely being an arse, or does it come to you naturally?" Hermione asked.
James scoffed. "Only makes you a Death Eater's whore, doesn't-"
James' last words were choked off as he was thrown against a wall, seemingly unable to take. Immobile and unable to talk, true panic formed in his eyes as a shimmering form approached James in slow, menacing steps. Sirius had his wand drawn though it hardly looked like he was about to stun or hex anyone. If anything, the handsome young man looked utterly confused.
"Don't. Ever. Call her that." Severus said through what sounded like gritted teeth.
"Let him go, Snape." Sirius asked, wand dropping to his side.
"Why should I?"
"Because maybe if he knew why we need his help, he'd understand." Hermione offered.
Severus snorted. "And trust him to keep his mouth shut?"
"We're quite good at secrets." Sirius remarked, chin tilted proudly.
"Not as good as you think." Hermione said softly, amused by the wide-eyed surprise Sirius had as he turned to look at her. "Severus, we could make them swear a vow."
"A vow?" Sirius asked. "What is going on that you would need us to take a vow."
"Dumbledore will know we told them." Severus snapped.
"And did he say we couldn't? And if you're really that worried, allow me to tell them. Your disillusioned. Even if the headmaster peeks into their minds, and sees that they know, unless he stays in their heads to look for the whole thing, there will be no real sign you're there. Just me finding out a way to sneak you out of the castle."
After a moment, Severus released James.
Scowling, he looked to Hermione as he took out his wand. "Alright, Granger. What does he need."
"Uh, uh. Oath first. I think, I vow on my wand to never reveal what is said in this room to anyone who does not already know." She said thoughtfully.
"I vow on my wand to never reveal what is said in this room to anyone who does not already know." Sirius said without hesitation, wand up as a gold light wrapped around his wand. James seemed to hesitate, then followed suite, the light wrapping around his wand and sealing his vow.
Hermione took a deep breath, feeling Severus' hands on her arms from behind.
"Severus' achievements in potions had earned him a lot of attention. I'm sure you know that Dumbledore is fighting against You-Know-Who. Well, he …."
"Demanded, or coerced." Severus suggested lowly, though it seemed Sirius had picked up on the whispers.
"Severus was in the perfect position to do some undercover work, and Dumbledore thought it best they take the opportunity."
"So, spying." James said. After a moment, he let out a loud, "ha", followed by, "Well, I would say it was good to know you, Snape, but that would be a lie."
"You don't think he can do it?" Sirius asked with mild disbelief.
"No." James said flatly. "No, I think when he leaves at the end of the year, we won't be seeing or hearing from him again."
"If I never see you again after leaving Hogwarts, more the better." Severus retorted.
"Well, for what it's worth, you have stones, Snape." Sirius said, and then a thought seemed to light his features before it faded with a shake of his head. He pointed at the map again. "Whomping Willow. If you take the Honey Dukes tunnel, you won't have enough room to apparate until you get to the cellar, and then it may cause damage to the product and draw attention. The willow will lead you out to the shrieking shake, and from there you will be free to move about." He paused. "Umm, when were you needing this?"
"End of the month. Why?" Severus asked.
"Nothing, it's just that it's not safe certain times of the month." Sirius said with a wry smirk, and Hermione noted James smiling smugly from where he was standing a few feet away.
"Only certain times of the month? I'm fairly certain the willow is murderous regardless of the phases of the moon." Severus countered.
Sirius had a cheeky grin that had Hermione rolling her eyes. He was practically screaming that there was a secret to be had, and what it was if much thought was given to it.
"There is a knot on the tree, very obvious, and if you hit it, the tree will be stunned long enough for you to slip into the tunnel. That is also very obvious, and you really shouldn't have any trouble with it."
"Good, thank you." Severus said, sounding relieved.
"Just be careful." Sirius said. "Both with getting in and out and …."
"I will."
January 29th, 1977
Severus landed at just in front of the gates of Malfoy Manor, and there he remained until they slowly creaked open. He then strode through them, confident that whatever he faced tonight, he could do it.
"Bit of advice," Alastor had told him when they had met a couple of weeks back in the Headmaster's office. "Look up some dark spells that'll look impressive but won't get ya in trouble."
Severus had combed through the dark tomes he could get his hands on, only cementing in the eyes of many that he was turning progressively darker. He noted that a few of his fellow students, after seeing him in the library, would avoid eye contact, if not him entirely.
But nothing in the texts he could see fit what he needed. So, Severus did something he hadn't really done since his third year: he created a spell.
He knew it would work the way he thought it would, or at least it had on a few discarded tables in his makeshift lab. He assumed if he had to use it on someone, if the worst happened, he could probably do some damage. Hermione hadn't known the, and he didn't want her to, if it could be helped in anyway.
When he arrived at the front step of the manor, the large doors opened to give him entry. He stepped through, hearing the doors shut behind him as he took in his surroundings. It was much more quiet than the night of the party a month ago. An elf popped out of nowhere, not Dobby this time, and held out its hand for his cloak. Severus removed it, handing it to the elf before straightening his clothes.
He had a set of robes over a crisp, green oxford, and a black waistcoat with subtle silver threading. His black trousers were immaculate, and his boots shined. He vaguely wondered if perhaps he shouldn't have put so much effort into an outfit he was likely to get blood all over.
He looked up at the sound of footsteps, and he felt the cold, welcoming feel of his Occulmency shields going into place.
Narcissa Malfoy smiled warmly at him, "Welcome, Severus. We've been expecting you."
He bowed. "Thank you for having me, however brief it will be."
She gave a tilt of her head, and beckoned Severus to follow her. A moment later, they were in a study, likely Lucius' as the man himself stood by the desk, finishing a tumbler of whiskey, a strange, black set of robes on his shoulders.
"Thank you, Cissy. Don't wait up for us, dear. There is no telling how long our evening will be."
Narcissa smiled and nodded, turning away, and closing the study door behind her as she left.
"A drink, Severus?" Lucius asked as he poured himself another finger.
"Is it a wise idea?" He asked, causing Lucius to chuckle.
"It can never hurt." He said as he summoned a second tumbler and poured a finger. Handing it to Severus, who took it with a nod, Lucius grinned. "I have heard you and Hermione have finally managed to shed the disgraced Black and his tag-alongs."
Severus shrugged. "It merely took changing our routine." Severus replied.
In reality, they had been using Potter's invisibility cloak, something that explained how they could sometimes get the drop on him without being seen even by him. Lupin, Black, and Lily would hide under it the odd times they came to his lab classroom, or to meet them in the second abandoned classroom if they felt the absolute need to include Pettigrew and Potter. If he and Hermione were meeting them, they were disillusioned.
"Yet you spend next to no time with your fellow Slytherins?" Lucius mused.
Severus scoffed, a slight smirk on his face as he brought the tumbler to his lips and took a sip. "I am studying two years' worth of subjects to compete my NEWTs this year. Aside from Hermione, I have no use for socializing with anyone. And if she wasn't such a swot in her own right, I doubt I would be able to tolerate even that."
Lucius gave a hearty chuckle. "Well, you've certainly found a woman worthy of you and your disposition. Much better than that pathetic Mudblood you used to pin after."
Severus sneered, and forced himself to dredge up the memories of the year before to help keep the disgust on his face. He was starting to hate that word. "She's an insipid, trite thing who thinks far too highly of herself." And then because he thought it was needed, and anything else may be suspect. "Even if her blood wasn't so repulsive, I doubt she'd have held my attention much longer."
It was apparently the right thing to say as Lucius radiated approval. "Have you chosen a Master?" He asked.
Severus nodded "I believe myself and Master Nikola have come to an understanding. He seems firm, strict, but he allows more deviation than Master Anton would have. And he only has one other apprentice, a man named Karkaroff, I believe."
Lucius nodded. "He is whom we had all hoped you would choose, if I may be honest. He-" Lucius cut himself off abruptly as he hissed thought his teeth, clutching his left forearm. Despite what seemed like agony, Lucius grinned wickedly. "The fun is about to begin." He said, waving his hand, and summoning a parcel. He handed it to Severus, "put these on." He said, summoning a silver mask to him and putting it on.
Intricate, beautiful, it was also dangerous. Something about it made the hairs on Severus' neck stand on end.
Quickly, he unbundled the parcel to find it was a set of black robes like Lucius'. He swung them on, fastening them as Lucius stuck out his left hand, wand in his right.
"Side along with me, friend." He said from behind the mask, and Severus gripped the man's hand just as he touched the tip of his wand to a black mark on his skin. The Dark Mark.
Before Severus could think much more on it, they were sucked into the void and deposited ….
In Cockworth?
Severus was entirely too confused upon seeing the old smoke stacks of the run-down factory before him. Of seeing the houses, all the same, row by row, as he glanced behind him. It was cool, and damp, and the air smelled of all the rotten things the streets and river had to offer. It had been so long since he'd been here, a year and a half, really, that he's managed to forget how utterly wretched it all was.
"What utter disgust." Lucius said, just as the sound of multiple apparations filled the air.
Nine people arrived and formed a semi-circle around them, various spots left empty.
As if from nowhere, the Dark Lord himself appeared before them all, and Severus fell into a kneeling bow like the rest of them. He didn't want to, nor was he compelled. Except, in a way, he was. Something about the robes felt suddenly heavier, and kneeling felt like the most natural thing in the world.
"Severus," The Dark Lord said, and as Severus lifted his head only slightly, the sinister man smiled toothily at him. Were his teeth more pointed than normal or was that just a figment of his imagination.
Without warning, the Dark Lord was in his mind, plowing through recent memories. Of his studying with Hermione, among other things. Of Professor Scamander sneering at him when he answered her question on curses a bit too thoroughly. Of his receiving his letter, and Hermione kissing him goodbye with a smile before he snuck out of the castle.
All the damning memories were safe, hidden away. As the Dark Lord withdrew Severus wondered how a man who entered a mind with all the delicacy of a battering ram could possibly not see his shields and attempt to smash them.
"Tell me, friend Severus." The Dark Lord said as he gestured for he and the others to rise. "Do you know where we are?"
"Hard not to, my Lord, as I was raised here." Severus said evenly.
"Not quite as terrible as the upbringing I had, but still distasteful. How your mother could resort to live in such filth when she had the power to change it is beyond me. But it matters not, now, she is back where she belongs. And you… I have a present for you, Severus. One I think will satisfy. One, I think, will help you shed the thought of this having been the place of your birth, of your youth."
With a snap of the Dark Lord's fingers, a stiff form of a tall man appeared slowly.
"Do you know this man?" The Dark Lord said, gesturing to the figure who was damn near frothing at the mouth.
Severus didn't need to hide his hatred of disgust. "Why, that's Tobias, my lord." He replied with his teeth clenched.
At his words, Tobias whipped his head toward Severus, and paled. Oh, yes. He had never seen Severus as a wizard, because he was never able to dress like one in his father's company. He had never seen his son as powerful, because magic outside of school was forbidden. And more so, Tobias hadn't laid eyes on his son since he was fourteen years old. And Severus had grown. Taller, stronger, more powerful. It would seem in that moment that Tobias Snape had suddenly realized that, even if he was a muggle, Severus would have the ability to overpower him. Tobias' eyes flickered to the wand in Severus' hand, one the young man hadn't fully realized he had drawn.
The Dark Lord seemed pleased. "You look ready to dispatch him."
"I am, My Lord." And the scary thing was, he meant it. His mother may have left him, but that didn't erase all the bad Tobias had rained down on her for nearly twenty years."
"You want to see him dead at your feet, yes? But why make it easy for him? Why not … make him feel pain? Why not show him precisely what you wished you could do when he made you feel powerless? Show him, Severus, how powerful you really are."
He knew what was being hinted at, exactly what spells the Dark Lord wanted him to use. It might have been unwise to go against even indirect wishes, but Severus hadn't worked on this spell for nothing.
He stepped forward. "Sectumsempra!" He half hissed, half yelled as he shot his wand toward Tobias' frozen form like a whip.
At first, it was like nothing happened. Then a second later, the results were utterly gruesome.
A hand fell off, the other arm followed. His legs went in two separate directions, causing the bloodying torso to fall backward on the ground with a sickening thud. And all the while, Tobias' eyes remained in focus, wide, panicked. His breathing was wet and ragged, but there, and had it not been for the pain, the shock, Severus was certain the man would be screaming.
The Dark Lord looked to Severus in shock, and then laughed with absolute delight. He threw his head back, clutching his stomach as the Death Eaters behind him caught on to the contagion of it.
"How wonderful!" The Dark Lord said, moving to get a better look at the damage Severus had done. He must have slipped into Tobias' mind, for he giggled with glee after meeting his gaze. "He is in agony. Knowing he's dying, knowing that his own flesh betrayed him. Oh, it is delightful. Where did you learn such a spell? I think I'd have come across such a wondrous form of torture in my travels."
"I created it, my Lord." Severus said with a slight bow, as if he merely performed a slight of hand for muggle children.
The Dark Lord shook his head. "Talented. Intelligent. If only all those who want to follow me could be so skilled. You created it?"
"He couldn't have, my lord." A voice that sounded familiar and foreign said from the circle. "It's merely a slicing hex."
"Not a mere slicing spell, MacNair!" The Dark Lord roared, rounding on the Death Eater. He grabbed the man's robes and pulled him toward Tobias' barely breathing body. "One spell did this, one! It would take many slicing hexes in quick succession to do half of this. And look," the Dark Lord said something, a healing spell, and nothing happened. He chuckled in his throat. "Had it been a slicing hex, he would not still be spilling his dirty blood on this filthy road." He then half tossed MacNair away from him, and the man fell to his knees in placation.
The Dark Lord turned back to Severus. "Can you do this to those who oppose me?" He asked.
No, no, no.
"Yes, my Lord."
"And could you do worse? Could you torture?"
Never, never.
"Absolutely, my lord."
"I will have other tests for you." He said. "Truly denouncing your father and his filthy heritage is but the first. You have done well, Severus." The Dark Lord then pulled something from his robes and handed it to Severus. A silver mask.
Severus took it in both hands before he began to trace the lines of decoration on the horrid thing with something that looked like reverence. "Thank you, my lord," He said before he put it on. He had to, it was like it was impossible not to put it on.
It formed perfectly to the contours of his nose, his lips, his eyes. He had perfect vision through it, and he realized suddenly that the mask was not just a token of his welcome among the Death Eaters, but a way to conceal his identity from anyone who was to look at him. It had clicked, as the magic held the mask to his face, that the ones around the circle had all looked identical, not a single placement of an eye or nose off.
His eyes snapped back to the Dark Lord who smiled broadly.
"I will not keep you longer, my friend. I would hate for you to draw suspicion by not being seen around the school, especially with your lady."
"Thank you, my lord." Severus said with a bow before apparating back to the Shrieking Shack.
He was aware, vaguely, that Hermione, Black, and Lupin, of all people, were waiting for him to return on the old, dilapidated bed that was housed in the room. He noticed with the small part of his mind he allowed to observe such things, that the three of them had instantly drawn their wands, and only two relaxed slightly as he ripped off his mask.
Hermione was by his side and pulling his hair away from his face just in time to have him retch on the floor of the shack.
"What happened," She said, attempting to sooth as he sweat and panted. Someone, likely Lupin, vanished his sick from the floor as he tried to control his breathing.
"I… I just killed my father." He said, and was caught off guard by the pain that laced his voice.
It was what he had always wanted, really. Maybe not by his hand, but he had desperately wanted Tobias dead for longer than any child should want dark things. And it was his wand, his magic, that ripped the man apart and had him bleeding on the streets. He was likely dead, now, but there was always a possibility that he was still hanging on to life.
The scent of blood, metallic yet sweet with all the alcohol Tobias consumed, stuck in his nose, and wouldn't seem to leave.
He retched again, but it was dry as there was nothing left to come up. He felt Hermione's magic on him, cleansing him in an attempt to help in whatever way was possible.
"Can someone explain why Severus was dressed like a Death Eater?" Lupin asked, but before Severus could reply, he felt another wave of magic wash over him, and he fell into a contented blackness.
Sorry it's a shorter one, more to come soon!
Thank you to all the readers favoriters, followers, and reviewers. BlueWater5, TheShipperOfTheCrystalBallroom, viola1701e, , lia. , kyttikat777, argwyn2365, piratekiddo, HGranger89, paranoiartist, Jackass23, and hippiechiq, thanks so much for leaving word.
So many people seem to be team Fred. Hmm...