AN: I've decided one more chapter in Severus's point of view couldn't hurt. The rest of the story will probably be in Hermione's though!
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I glare at the students from across my desk. They stand a few feet apart from each other, their heads downcast. I simply do not have the patience to deal with these idiots today.
"Fifty points will be taken from both of you," I growl. "And furthermore-"
My words are drowned out in a hiss as my left arm burns. Damn it! If I have no patience for students today, I certainly have absolutely no tolerance for Death Eaters. I look back to the two quivering Ravenclaws before me. My Mark burns again and I resist the urge to cover it with my right hand.
"Furthermore," I continue, "you shall serve a month's worth of detention with Mr. Filch starting tomorrow night at nine o'clock in his office. Do I make myself clear?"
They nod once.
"Good. Now get out."
I glare at their backs as they flee my office and hiss again at my Mark. Damn this bloody thing. I stand and pull on a traveling cloak, ignoring Dumbledore's question of what is going on. I don't need to deal with him right now. It'll take all my effort not to just kill someone at whatever meeting is being held tonight.
I stroll out of the castle, not even bothering with the Carrows. I can't stand their presence enough as it is. I make my way down the grounds to the Apparition point and head toward Malfoy Manor.
The once impressive building now reflects the rotten family within it. The grounds are unkempt, the paint peeling, the whole plot of land feels more like a graveyard or a house of dead than a home. I pity Draco; his father's an idiot and his childhood home is now more a decaying prison than a safe haven.
I don't bother with knocking as I enter the house. Sounds of panic come from the parlor and I causally stroll toward it. Narcissa is holding Draco tightly to her chest, both of their faces pale. Lucius and Bellatrix are having it out in the middle of foyer, the chandelier a broken mess of glass on the floor.
"What the hell is going on?" I finally snap.
Lucius looks at me and I notice the brief flicker of desperation that crosses his face. He has been looking like shit lately. Azkaban did not do him any favors, nor, I suppose, did having the most powerful and deadly wizard to ever live stay in his home.
"We had them!" Bellatrix shrieks. "We had Potter and the Mudblood and that useless ginger, but they got away!"
"How, pray tell, did you manage to lose three young wizards?" I ask, trying to keep my voice calm and collected.
"That stupid House elf of Lucius's came and got them out!" she screams, pointing an accusatory finger at the blonde haired man. "If you had just killed that useless little troll when you had the chance, then we would have been able to present Potter to the Dark Lord on a fucking silver platter!"
"Enough!" I yell. "Does the Dark Lord know that Potter was here?"
Bellatrix and Lucius return to glaring at each other. And they wonder why we never seem to be able to get anything done.
"I was about to call him," Bellatrix hisses, "but then Lucius cut me off! He says because it was his house, he should have the privilege to call the Dark Lord! Never mind the fact that had it not been for me, the Snatchers wouldn't have even brought them here!"
"They came to my house, Bella!"
"Don't you 'Bella' me!"
"Both of you shut the fuck up!" My outburst causes a wonderful moment of silence. "Now. How did Potter and the others get here?"
"The Snatchers brought them." It is Narcissa who speaks, still clinging tightly to Draco. "One of them said the Dark Lord's name and they were able to track them. They brought them here because they suspected one was Harry Potter. There was something wrong with his face, so they couldn't be sure. We asked Draco to identify them, but he wasn't certain."
I look to the boy, but he refuses to meet my eyes. Clever little idiot. He lied. I owe him one now. And I bet it was Potter who used Voldemort's name. Bloody moron could have gotten Granger killed.
"There was another thing," Bellatrix hisses. She narrows her eyes at me and I return the glare. Two can play your game, Lestrange. "They had the Sword of Godric Gryffindor with them. The sword that you gave me to put in my vault at Gringotts!"
I roll my eyes. "Obviously theirs was a fake, Bellatrix."'
"That's what the goblin said," Lucius points out. "After you 'questioned' the Mudblood and she said it was fake, the goblin confirmed it."
My heart stops beating for a moment.
"And what wonderful technique of interrogating did you use this time?" I ask, keeping my tone bored.
Bellatrix's lips curl into a smile. "Mostly Cruico but I did leave her with a nice little present. A nice way to remember she is no better than the dirt on my boots."
Draco's face pales and I notice that he tightens his grip on his mother's arms. So does Bellatrix.
"Go on, Draco. Tell the man what I did to the girl." She is laughing now.
I stare pointedly at Draco until he finally meets my eyes. "She carved 'Mudblood' into her arm."
The words are no more than whispers but I can hear them just fine. I look to Bellatrix, my face still a mask of cool indifference and boredom. I arch an eyebrow. "Is that really the best you could think of?" Bellatrix looks like she has been slapped in the face, which I supposed I'll have to settle with. She bares her teeth in a growl like a wild animal. If I have my way, she will die first.
"Now," I say, forcing myself not to imagine the horrors Granger went through. "Has the Dark Lord been notified about what happened here?"
At this, Bellatrix looks a little worried. "Not yet. You see, Snape, the Dark Lord entrusted me with a special item in his possession. He asked me to hide it for him; keep it safe encase someone were to go after it. Since Potter, the Mudblood and the Blood Traitor had a copy of the sword, I feared they had gotten into my vault at Gringotts. It is the safest place I know of and that is where I hid our Lord's precious item."
"If the sword they have is fake then obviously they were not in your vault," I say, dryly. "Just summon the Dark Lord and admit that you lost Potter."
"You don't understand," she hisses. "He asked me to hide his Horcux."
I am going to kill Dumbledore. I am going to resurrect the bastard and then kill him again.
"After Lucius managed to destroy his diary, he decided to trust a piece of his soul to a more worthy servant. Me." Her voice is smug and conceited. "I worry he might not think I am capable of keeping this object safe and would remove it from my possession. Doing so would certainly end in the destruction of the Horcux, as I am the only servant the Dark Lord can trust with such a task."
"Since no one has gotten into your vault, I am sure the Dark Lord would not remove this object from your charge. Just call him and admit that you had the boy, but you lost him."
Lucius looks to his wife and son, worry clear on his features. "The Dark Lord will be furious," he whispers.
"Oh, I am certain he will be very livid, yes. However, since it was you and Bellatrix who lost him, perhaps just the two of you should make the call. Narcissa and Draco will not be needed. Now, would you two kindly figure out which one of you will call him?"
I keep my black eyes on Lucius and Bellatrix, but can still see Narcissa leading Draco out of the parlor. She casts me a grateful glance as she shuts the door behind them. They should not pay for Lucius's mistakes.
"Are you going to stay?"
I roll my eyes at Bellatrix. "I wasn't here when you captured and lost Potter. It is not my responsibility to explain to the Dark Lord what happened. Besides, I am needed at Hogwarts."
"The Carrows can take care of things," she insists.
"Careful, Bella- one might think you actually like having me around. And if I leave the Carrows in charge for much longer, I might not have any students left. The Dark Lord does not want us to waste a single drop of magical blood. Now, call him and beg forgiveness."
I turn on my heel and stroll out of the parlor. Narcissa and Draco's voices are whispers in another room, but I do not go to them. They should leave the Manor for a little while until Voldemort has finished unleashing his wrath on Lucius and Bellatrix. I walk calmly out of the Manor to the Apparition point before returning to the school. I force myself to walk slowly and purposefully through the corridors as I make my way to my office. Once outside it, I hurl open the door, unable to contain my fury any longer.
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
Dumbledore looks up from his painting, startled at my outburst. The other paintings jolt awake. Upon seeing how thoroughly pissed off I am, they quickly exit their portraits, leaving me alone with Dumbledore.
"I don't have the slightest idea what you are talking about," he says calmly.
"I've had enough of your lies! Why didn't you tell me about the Horcuxes?!"
"You were- and still are- on a need-to-know basis, Severus. You didn't need to know about Voldemort's Horcuxes because they are not your concern."
"No, not mine, but they are the concern of three seventeen year old children?" I spit. "That's the task you gave Potter? Hunt down and destroy Voldemort's Horcuxes?"
"It is the only way Voldemort can truly be destroyed. Along with the vital piece of information I gave you last year."
"How can you be so sure that the boy will survive this… this suicide mission?! If it is so important that Voldemort kills him, why haven't you just told him to hand himself over? Let more experienced wizards handle tracking down and killing the Horcuxes."
"It sounds like you are concerned for the boy, Severus."
"Not for him. Never for him," I hiss.
"Then why are you so distraught over this? Harry, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley are more than capable of finishing the hunt that I started. I wouldn't have asked Harry to do it if I didn't think he could survive it. Trust me, Severus. The three of them will be fine."
"Fine? Fine! I'm sure they were fine after being dragged to Malfoy Manor where they were no doubt tortured repeatedly!" The image of Granger withering on the floor screaming in agony flashes in my mind and I quickly shake my head to remove it.
"Are they still there? You must get them out, Severus!"
"They are gone. Dobby got them out. I don't know how long they were there, or where they went."
Dumbledore lets out a sigh. "Good. At least they are safe now. Do they still have the sword?"
"Bellatrix thought it was the one from her vault. She tortured Granger into revealing where they got it. She claimed it was a fake and a goblin they had captive lied saying it was as well. I didn't see it when I was called there, so I assume it that the sword is still in their possession. Let me guess, they need the sword to kill the Horcuxes."
"How very astute, Severus," Dumbledore praises. "It is essential that it remains with them. They cannot hope to destroy the remaining Horcuxes without it."
"And how many are left, exactly?"
"Need-to-know, Severus. You do not need to know this."
I glare at him and promptly storm out of my office, ignoring his calls to come back. I stalk through the hallways, not even bothering with calling out the students who try to hide in the shadows. I pass by my labs without a backward glance and continue on to my chambers. The doe that guards the painting looks at me expectedly before I give her the password.
Once the door swings open, I walk inside and slam it closed. I pull my outer robes off and toss them aside. I make my way to the ornate desk in my sitting room and pull open the bottom most drawer to reveal a bottle of Firewhiskey. I don't even bother will getting a glass before sitting in my desk chair and taking a long drink. The alcohol burns my throat on the way down, but I don't care. I continue to drink until the bottle is halfway gone.
"You really shouldn't drink so much."
"I can do whatever I want," I say with a glare as I look up at Granger. I take another long swing of Firewhiskey and her image becomes clearer. "You aren't really here, so you can't stop me."
She rolls her honey eyes and walks closer to me, kneeling in front of me on the floor. "You shouldn't be mad at Dumbledore. You know he means well, even if he is a painting. And he is right, you know. Harry, Ron and I can handle the Horcuxes. We've been fine for months."
"Please tell me in what world being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange is considered 'fine,'" I hiss as I take another drink.
Granger sighs and helps me lower the bottle to the desk. Her small hands find mine and she pulls me to my feet. "Come on, Severus. You're drunk."
"And you are a figment of my imagination."
"Figment or no, I am here to take care of you."
She pulls me along to my bed chambers and helps me out of my robes and into a pair of pajamas. She reminds me to place a trashcan by my bed encase I vomit and to put a Sober-Up Potion on my bedside table next to my wand. She lays down on one side of the bed and I stumble into the other, pulling the sheets up around me. I refuse to close my eyes.
"You have to sleep, Severus," she says gently. "It'll be all right; I'll still be here when you wake up."
"No, you won't," I sigh, before rolling over so I don't face her and letting my eyes fall shut.