Chapter 36: Task of the Spider
Melodia had been getting much stronger for the past two days. Her powers were still very weak, but they were gradually improving. Luckily, she had no immediate need of them at home.
She was extremely thankful that her pregnancy was not negatively affected by her illness. Melodia believed that this was a miracle granted from God to both her and to Severus; especially considering she didn't know that she was pregnant until after she awakened from her cleansing sleep.
Severus had been doting on her since she came round. His overprotective behavior drove her bonkers at times, but she knew that he had every right to worry. He was the father of her baby, and regardless of the subtle improvements, she remainedratherfrail.
In fact, until yesterday, he had refused to allow her out of bed at all. He had served meals to her in bed and escorted her carefully to bathe or freshen up, then took her straight back to bed again.
Tonight, after a great deal of pleading, Severus relented and allowed her to have dinner with him downstairs in the kitchen. It was only the two of them in the house now, and it felt good to be alone with him and behaving almost normally again.
After they had finished eating, Melodia rose from her seat and began clearing the table.
"And just what do think you are doing, little girl?" Severus asked sternly. The look on his face told her he was not about to allow her to continue.
"Well, what does it look like, Shaggy?" she asked cheekily. "I am clearing away our dishes, of course." She continued to clear the table until he rose to his feet and pulled her into his arms.
"No. You are not," he said firmly. "Is it not enough that you have little or no powers, and can barely function as a Muggle?" he asked a bit more sharply than he intended.
"Don't be ridiculous! I am functioning just fine thank you," she said, shaking her head and laughing softly.
"I am not amused Melodia." Severus said sternly. "I will clear the table and attend to the kitchen. You, my love, have a choice," he said smoothly as he kissed the tip of her nose.
"Oh, really? And just what choice is that exactly?" she asked seductively and pinched his behind sharply.
He jumped with surprise at her brazen action. "Stop that, Loddie. You clearly do not realize what you are starting," he finished as a warning.
"Oh I think I do," she said duskily.
"What's wrong Professor? Afraid you'll get me pregnant?" she teased.
She laughed when he swatted her behind soundly and scolded her.
"Sit down and behave yourself. I shall deal with you later. Just now, I haven't the time," he teased.
Melodia sat in the chair that he had previously occupied and asked him, "What are my choices then?"
Severus had already begun the job of cleaning the dishes, and turned to face her.
"You may sit there and finish your juice, or you may go directly back to bed," he said seriously. The expression on his face told her he was not teasing this time.
"What kind of choice is that?" She asked pouting slightly.
Severus looked at her irritably, and furrowed his brow with darkened eyes.
'Please, Shaggy, I need to move around a bit more. I am getting much better, Darling, and the baby is fine. You heard Dordei say so!" she argued gently.
"Melodia, you should know that I will not allow you to overexert yourself. I've been dangerously close to losing both of you already, and I refuse to suffer that torment again," he said wearily.
She ran to him and hugged him around his middle. I am so sorry, Darling. I know my illness upset you terribly and… I love you so much, Severus."
He closed his eyesas he held her. "I love you too my Loddie. More than you will ever know," he said softly.
They stood in each other's arms for a long moment before she asked him.
"May I at least go check on Dimey? I mean, he must wonder where I have been," she asked sweetly.
His face was fixed on hers steadily for a moment. "Melodia, I truly think you should…."
"Now just wait, Shaggy," she interrupted. "Look. You can see me from here," she told him as she walked to the picture window. I will be just inside grooming Dimey. Please?" she begged sweetly. She stood on tipped toes and lightly brushed his frowning lips with her own.
He embraced her again and laughed softly.
"Very well, Love. Go and see your horse. I shall join you momentarily," he said as he kissed her again.
With a broad smile she strode to the door, "Thank you, Shaggy! See you in a minute!"
He watched her walk happily across the lawn and shook his head before resuming his kitchen duties.
As Melodia approached the barn she noticed a great black spider that had spun an enormous web just inside the corner of the barn door. It was the biggest spider she had ever seen. She shivered as she strolled quickly past the loathsome looking insect toward Black Diamond's stall.
She picked up the brush and called him, "Tck, tck, tck." He happily clopped over to meet her and she hugged his great, strong neck and began grooming his coat. He suddenly grunted and then jerked his head as if something startled him.
"What is it, babe?" she asked in a soothing tone.
Just then a cold male voice broke the silence.
"It appears your animal is not accustomed to visitors, Miss…ah…Dumbledore…isn't it?" Melodia jumped and turned quickly to see the voice's owner.
"Dear God! No!" she said shakily.
Lucius Malfoy stood before her smiling and bowed graciously, as if she should be happy to see him.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she heard herself say.
"Aw, come now," he drawled. "It's been such a long time since we've seen one another. Is that any way to welcome a guest to your home, my pet?" Instantly she found her voice.
"YOU ARE NOT A GUEST IN MY HOME! AND I AM MOST CERTAINLY NOT YOUR PET…YOU UNIMAGINABLE BASTARD!" she yelled hoping Severus would hear her this time.
Malfoy's face grew dark and menacing as she glared at him.
"I see you've never gotten around to having the lessons in manners I suggested for you," he hissed, as he snatched her into his arms and kissed her roughly on the mouth.
She drew back with all of her might and slapped him across his face with enough force that he stumbled backward a bit.
"You're demented!" she shouted angrily. "You should know that you will never leave here alive if you attack me again!" she threatened, sounding more rattled than she intended to.
He laughed crudely and rubbed his now pink jaw line.
"So this is the 'thanks' I receive for attempting to rescue you from that half blood loser in there?" he drawled as he nodded toward the house. "He can neither save nor avenge you, my pet."
Melodia's eyes narrowed and she heard herself challenge him. "Care to bet on that, do you?" Lucius seemed amused with her sudden show of backbone.
"You realize that Severus is a walking dead man of course," he advised matter-of-factly. "The Dark Lord has sent me along to fetch him. Yes. He will soon face the ultimate wrath of our master, and I'm afraid that his chances of ever returning to you are completely obsolete," he finished smiling hatefully.
"You're lying! Voldemort would never send someone as incompetent as you to capture Severus! If he did, that would be an act of sheer stupidity!" she ranted.
"Besides, from what I understand, if you fail him again, you miserable pile of dung, it will be the end of you!" she spat angrily.
"Ah yes. You heard that, I am sure, from the mighty Professor Snape," he said eyeing her lustily.
"I assume you have still not gotten the attention from him you craved so many years ago…or have you?" he asked lustily surveying her body as he spoke.
Melodia suddenly felt a wave of nausea, but fought it off. Her fear was fading now. She balled her fists at her side and trembled with rage.
"As a matter of fact I have Lucius." She said, stepping closer to him.
"You see, I have given Severus, of my own free will, the one precious gift that you were not man enough to take by force!"
His face was red with rage now too. He stormed toward her suddenly and grabbed her arms. His fingers brutally dug into her soft flesh.
"You dirty little whore!" he growled.
He was livid, but also quite shocked and insulted by her confession. Suddenly his face changed again as though the triumph was his to savor after all.
"Perhaps you are right, Princess," he continued as smoothly as he could manage.
"I was not man enough back then. But I assure you; I am now," he sneered as he pressed his body against hers and kissed her harder this time.
She struggled to get away from him, but he was much stronger than he had been years ago. In her weakened state, she was no more a match for him tonight than she had been the first time he assaulted her.
"It is useless to fight me, Princess. You will be mine this time. I simply cannot allow you to become too engrossed in the greasy Snape git. He will be dead soon anyway, and you will be proud to be mine then, I assure you," he bragged as he bit her neck hard and painfully ripped her nightshirt completely from her body.
Melodia screamed, buthe covered her mouth tightly with his hand and laughed at her frailty. He began to grope and pinch at her breasts that were swollen and sore due to her maternal condition.
"Oh yes, my Princess! You are a delicious little treat aren't you?" he said gasping with desire.
"If only Narcissa could have been this spirited, rather than the cold fish she was; perhaps we would have produced more children before she died," he said flippantly.
"No matter, he panted. You will provide me heirs, my Princess," he finished coldly. He showed no signs of grief for the assumed loss of his wife.
Melodia fumbled desperately trying to cover her exposed breasts.
"Take your hands off me, you slimy troll!" she spat, as she regained some measure of emotional control.
"My hands should be the very the least of your worries, Princess," he drawled again breathlessly as he tore at her bed pants. Lucius managed to violently rip away the fabric that covered her.
He slipped a hand between her legs and plunged it into her mercilessly as Melodia struggled to free herself.
She was sickened by his touch. It seemed, however, that the harder she struggled against him, the more Lucius seemed to enjoy this heinous act. His desire was evident as he pressed him self against her now completely naked form lustily
Oh God! She thought fearfully. No! Please not again! Why does this have to happen to me when my powers are so useless!
Black Diamond neighed loudly and kicked his stall door from the hinges, and then ran toward the house.
Severus heard the crash and watched as the horse ran from the stable and fled across the grounds. Instinctively, he drew his wand and ran outside toward the stable door.
Melodia screamed and managed to free one hand from his grasp. She clawed Malfoy's face deeply. His life's blood gushed from the wounds and he howled with something that she thought sounded a lot like sick pleasure!
Melodia was then blindsided by a large, firm hand as Lucius backhanded her across the face. She fell to the floor, only to be jerked to her feet again. He slammed her forcefully against the stable wall.
"Come now, Princess," Lucius said with a growl. "You didn't honestly think that would allow you to get away from me, did you?" he said as he wiped the blood from his face and then squeezed her mouth and chin with his bloody hand.
"I suggest you not try something as foolish as that gain my pet. Trust me, you will enjoy this," Lucius drawled. He laughed maniacally as he reached for the front of his trousers in an effort to release his arousal. Once again, she was powerless to stop him.
Dear God! My baby! She panicked inwardly as she felt her own blood trickle from her mouth and nose.
Where is Severus? I can't keep him off of me any longer! She thought frantically, as hot tears flowed down her face.
At that moment, Severus rounded the corner of the doorway, wand in hand. He stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of his pregnant fiancée's attack. Red faced and shaking with rage, he shouted.
"Step off Malfoy!Three jets of red light from Snape's wand hit Lucius in the back. He fell into a clump at Melodia's feet.
She stepped over Lucius and ran to Severus. She was naked and shivering uncontrollably. He quickly removed his robe and wrapped Melodia in it.
"Dear God Loddie!" he said as he noticed her bloodied lips and nose.
"Look what he's done to you!" Severus stormed. He took hold of her shoulders and peered into her face. "He didn't…"
"No," she began cringing, " but, if you hadn't shown up when you did…"
He carefully surveyed her face and then held her tightly against him, while keeping a watchful eye on the suffering Malfoy.
"I am here, Love" he assured her as he held her closely. "Go into the house and stay there." he said sternly. "I will take care of this," he finished angrily.
Before she could respond, the cold drawling voice of her attacker stopped her.
"Yes, Princess. I think it best if you do not witness the destruction of your disgustingly greasy lover," he snarled spitefully, as he rose slowly to his feet and drew his wand.
"That would be a fascinating turn of events, you evil bastard!" Severus stormed at his one time friend.
Instantly, Severus flung another curse at Lucius that he easily blocked.
"Do you think so, my old friend? Then by all means, let the events unfold! Perhaps your little whore should stay and witness this," he said coldly.
"You're a dead man, Malfoy. Melodia belongs to me now and no one will harm her and live to tell the tale, my old friend." Severus hissed murderously. He shot another curse at Lucius.
Again, it was blocked, but the force drove Lucius backward slightly.
Lucius rebounded very quickly and pointed his wand in Snape's direction but did nothing more. He appeared to be enjoying this scene very much.
Neither of them spoke for a moment, then suddenly, both Snape and Lucius began to fling curses at one another quickly.
Each man was easily able to block the other's curses successfully. Melodia scurried out of the line of fire screaming and ducking away from their rebounding spells.
She knew she had to do something. There was only one thing she knew of that Malfoy would find distracting. She had to do it, regardless of what the consequences might be. She prayed that Severus would not interfere, but recognize her plan, allow her the lead and follow it.
"Stop it!" she bellowed as she gathered her self and bravely threw her self between them.
She turned to Malfoy and took two steps toward him.
"Take me to Voldemort, Lucius. Yes. You know, Tom Riddle? The phony, half blood, self proclaimed Dark Lord? I will gladly face him," she said defiantly.
"Loddie NO!" Severus roared in disbelief. "You're in shock and you don't realize what you're saying! Get back into the house this instant!" he demanded.
As if Severus had not spoken at all, Melodia continued her verbal assault on Malfoy.
"We can tell Voldemort that Severus is dead, and that I am the only one left alive that he has to fear. He is welcome to try and kill me, then, if he is so inclined!
"No, my pet. I will not take you before the Dark Lord. Though it would be rather interesting to see his reaction to your insolence, not to mention the brazen use of his given name."
He smiled evilly and added, "My task has been set. I am to fetch your boyfriend and take him with me, and I will accomplish it, one way or another," he finished confidently.
"I see," Melodia said gravely. "Then you will have to kill me Lucius," she instructed calmly. He looked curiously at her.
"I have no intention of killing you, that is, perhaps, until I have had my way with your… extraordinary… features," he added smugly.
Severus was livid. He shot another jet of red light from his wand as a deadly warning.
"If you touch her again, Malfoy, you will have to kill me. Because if you don't, I give you my word; regardless of where you run, there will be nowhere on this earth that you will be able to hide from me!" he continued in a dangerous tone.
Melodia shivered as she listened to Snape's deadly warning. Then, she added her own warning.
"No, Lucius! You will have to kill me to get to Severus! So do it now!"
He smirked as though he were highly entertained but made no move to counter her.
"Why don't you just do it!" she spat hatefully as she approached him defiantly.
The smirk faded from his face and he was clearly struggling to control his anger.
"I swear to you Lucius, if you allow me to live, you will most certainly regret it," she goaded as she stepped directly in front of his wand allowing the tip of it to touch the front of Snape's robe.
"I've already explained that I have other plans for you; therefore, I have no intention of murdering you," Lucius said evenly.
"Watch your mouth, Malfoy!" Severus stormed.
It was Melodia's turn to smirk at her attacker.
"You will never have me, Lucius; unless you intend to rape my dead body, because I assure you, I would rather die than have you touch me again!
Embarrassment and rage flooded Malfoy's facial features as she needled him.
"By the way Lucius, did I tell you that I removed your families powers and held them captive here, before shipping them off to die miserably?"
Severus stood motionless, unable to believe Melodia's treachery. She was literally begging this mad man to kill her by blatantly lying to him!
"Loddie, I am warning you. You know better than this," Severus snarled angrily. "Stop antagonizing him and stand aside!" He hissed angrily.
"How touching," Lucius said sarcastically. Each of you, attempting to protect the other." he finished smirking sickeningly.
"Well, I am sorry to tell you; your feeble attempts will not be successful…'Loddie'…is it?"
"You're delusional, Lucius," Melodia goaded hatefully.
"Delusional am I?" Lucius asked sarcastically.
"Oh, I think not, Miss Dumbledore. You see, unlike your boyfriend here, I have not been attempting to hide from the Dark Lord by playing house with a whore, have I!" Lucius spat angrily.
"That's right Lucius. Severus has been here with me. He was not hiding, however. He is here because unlike yours, his touch is the one that I crave."
Severus smiled when he noticed that Lucius was rendered speechless by Melodia's hurtful cheek. At that moment he realized the reason for her antagonistic behavior. She was distracting him to so that Severus could prevail using the element of surprise.
As Malfoy stood glaring at her, Melodia quickly, yet subtlety waved her hand in Snape's direction and dropped immediately onto the floor.
"Expelliarmus!" Snape shouted, but Lucius managed to catch his wand on his fingertips before it left his grasp and tighten his hold.
"Crucio!" he cried in retaliation.
Lucius laughed maniacally, as Severus dropped his wand. He doubled over in pain and sank to his knees, screaming and writhing.
"Crucio!" Lucius cursed again.
Severus howled in pain, and shakily dove for his wand. Suddenly two red jets of light streamed consecutively from his wand without a word and hit Severus in the chest.
He was blasted backward and his body crashed through the broken stall door and landed heavily into a lifeless heap.
Melodia screamed in horror as she watched her lover fall to his apparent death.
"I told you, Princess. This would not be pretty." Lucius advised her coldly, as he walked closer to the stall door.
"Filthy half blood! I see I shall have to finish him myself after all," Lucius said menacingly as he raised his wand again and pointed it at Snape's seemingly lifeless body.
"Avada…."
"Nooooooooo!" Melodia screamed again, but this time, the high pitch of her horrified scream became the high pitched screech of an infuriated panther. Lucius dropped his wand into the hay, and stood frozen, wide-eyed in terror.
Severus came around in time to witness her transformation. He could not stand on his feet, so he began to crawl. Pulling himself along his stomach towards her, he tried desperately to call out to her; however, his voice was no louder than a weak croak.
"Dear… God…Loddie, Nooooooooo!" His cries went unnoticed by the magnificent cat.
Lucius became aware of a warm wet sensation when he wet himself out of sheer terror
The panther eyed him hungrily for a long moment and without warning, she charged and leaped toward Malfoy.
He recovered him self suddenly and scrambled for his wand, but she was upon him all too quickly.
Severus watched in horror as Lucius kicked and screamed, fighting Melodia's furious attack, but to no avail.
The last sound Lucius Malfoy heard before consciousness left him was the sound of his own screams as the great panther tore into his flesh."