You ever had that feeling like it was too much to type another word? That is where I got to with this story…oh, I had ideas…but the muse was taking a serious nap and the page stayed blank for a LOOOOONG time. Then I got a review recently from a wonderful new reader named Gixie asking about when there was going to be a confrontation between Snape, Mina, and Voldemort…and WHAM…my muse woke up like she had pounded 4 cans a red bull…and here you go…This chapter (which I hope doesn't suck) is proof that without all of my lovely readers…well…let us just say it is a collaborative effort and I love you all for being my inspiration…
I am not JKR...and I am proud of it…I mean, what does she have that I don't ha….crap…pout…
"My lord, I beg your forgiveness for any aggravation I may have caused you. Know that in all of my actions I have had no other thought than how to serve you better."
Voldemort looked down at the young man on his knees before him. Severus Snape was an interesting creature and had been one of his favorites up until his recent betrayal. He had been unquestioningly obedient, dedicated to the cause, and yet was still a sharp thinker. There were too many mindless drones around him and though they had their uses, it was Severus's cunning that had made him a valuable commodity…and had made the subsequent betrayal so irritating. Now the young man who had bravely, or foolishly, had returned to his side was claiming that it had all been part of a grand plan to bring his Lord a valuable weapon against his enemies…one that would strike a devastating and personal blow against that muggle loving fool, Dumbledore.
"Rise" Voldemort said as he motioned his hand towards Snape. He noted with a certain sense of pride that the young man did not even flinch at the gesture. Snape just rose slowly and raised his eyes. Voldemort looked directly into Snape's eyes. Snape felt Voldemort rummaging though his mind and he hoped the Dark Lord would be pleased with what he found there.
"Interesting…" the Dark Lord hissed "Where is the girl?"
Snape bowed his head "She is in the mansion my Lord…just outside the door. I had her blindfolded so as to minimize her knowledge of your location until you deem her worthy."
Voldemort leaned back and looked at him "You are so certain that she is worthy you would bring her here to me?"
Snape held his head high "She is a unique individual my Lord. I have been working closely with her for sometime now. As a Gryffindor and Dumbledore's ward, I had initially dismissed her as useless. But through our conversations, I had learned of her dissatisfaction with her current situation and slowly started to see how she could benefit our cause. She is a powerful witch my Lord and is anxious to have an outlet for such power as befitting her blood."
Voldemort thought for a moment "Intriguing…Yes, I believe I will meet with this witch you claim was your reason for acting publicly like you had betrayed me. Remove her blind fold and escort her in."
Snape flinched slightly at the reminder of his mistakes, but he simply nodded and left the room. When he returned, he escorted the young woman to the center of the room and knelt down with his head bowed "My Lord, may I present to you, Miss Mina Black"
Voldemort leaned back and observed the young woman who boldly stood before him. Visually she was stunning. Her skin was elegantly pale…her long black hair was pulled back in a simple plate so as not to impede her…her dark purple robes were simple yet elegant and bespoke of a taste fitting her class. All in all, she was a prime example of what a proper pure blood witch should be…but it was the power that Voldemort could sense beneath that simple and elegant surface that intrigued him. He rose from his throne at the top of the dais in the center of the room and approached her. The remaining Death eaters in the room immediately fell to there knees, but the young woman before him remained standing. She inclined her head to him at the proper angle for a witch of high blood who was meeting another of high blood but of unknown rank…this amused him.
He took her right hand in his and nodded before releasing it "Miss Black, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Lord Voldemort"
Mina smiled coolly. She gave him a proper bow, but remained standing "The pleasure is all mine Lord Voldemort. I have heard many things about you."
He raise what would have been an eyebrow at her "I am sure you have heard all manner of interesting stories about me from your guardian and your fellow Gryffindor's" he said with a mocking tone
Mina just gave him a cold smile and waved her hand dismissively at the mention of Dumbledore and the others. "Actually, I was referring to what Severus has told me about you and your…work."
"And what has young Mr. Snape told you about me? Legitamens!" he said as he went into her mind…and he was stunned to find nothing but a blank wall. He pulled back and stared at the girl. He was the most powerful legitamens in the Wizarding world, and yet even he was unable to penetrate her mind. She just gave him that cold smile. How interesting…what other secrets was she hiding?
"Leave us!" Voldemort said, still looking at the young woman with a fixed eye. One voice spoke up from the side of the room…
"My Lord, I must protest!" said the voice of Lucius Malfoy from behind one of the Death Eater masked "She is not one of us…she consorts with half breeds and mudbloods…she is nothing but a…" he was unable to continue because Mina had thrown a non-verbal choking hex in his direction and he was currently turning purple. She causally walked over to him and with that cold smile said "Don't you know it is rude to interrupt your betters? But seeing as you are not my responsibility…" and she released the hex, leaving Lucius gasping on the floor. Once he was composed he stood up to find his Lord looking at him with a cold eye.
"Leave us" Voldemort said in a tone that brooked no argument
"Yes my Lord" Lucius said and left immediately, knowing he was going to pay for his outburst later. Soon the room was empty except Mina Lord Voldemort and Severus.
"Lord Voldemort, if it pleases you, I would prefer if Severus remained with us as he is the one who brought me here to meet you" Mina said in a cool tone
Voldemort nodded. It was proper etiquette that a lady's escort remained with her during an introduction. He sat back down on his throne and observed her. "It is a rare thing to be so young and so skilled at Occulimency" he said, waiting to hear her response
Mina just shrugged "Uncle Al is a powerful legitamens….and I did not like the idea of him being able to read my thoughts on a whim. It was a necessary mastery to achieve for my own privacy. But as I have nothing to hide..." and she opened her mind to him
Voldemort was intrigued as he looked through her memories. He saw her performing powerful spells…her blood bonding with Sirius…he control over the werewolf Lupin…her voicing her frustrations to Snape about the tight leash her Guardian had over her…then he looked at her most recent memories of how she came here today…
"Come on guys…just one more toast before we go to bed" Mina said to the gang who were all sitting in the living room of Sirius's house. They all quickly agreed and Mina poured one more glass of punch for the slightly drunk group…none of them seeing the sleeping draught she had slipped into their glasses…
"To new beginnings!' she said and they all downed her punch and with in seconds were all passed out on various pieces of furniture. She knew she only had moments before Severus would arrive. She had used a divesto spell to remove most of their clothing and she floated them all into various compromising positions before Severus arrived.
"Now this is a sight I did not need to see" said Snape with a look of mild disgust and amusement.
"It was necessary…" she said coolly "They will all be too embarrassed in the morning to question as to where I was this night. Let us get moving. I am interested as to what your Lord has to say to me…"and they left silently out the front door
Voldemort pulled out of her mind and looked at her with a slightly amused expression "An interesting tactic Miss Black to use their own sensibilities against them"
Mina just shrugged again "It seemed logical." Then a malicious smirk came across her face "And it will be amusing to watch the aftermath in the morning" Snape had to stifle a snort at that comment.
Voldemort looked at her "I must ask…why did you feel it necessary to blood bond with Sirius Black as your brother. It was most disappointing when it was realized that he would be useless to our cause when he was sorted into Gryffindor…surely Regulus would have been a better choice"
Mina just gave him a calculating smile "Better in your eyes maybe…but not in mine. With Dumbledore acting as my guardian…" she said with a slight look of annoyance "It would have seemed strange for me to be associating with Slytherins and I needed to assure my place in Wizarding England…besides, Sirius is far more powerful…though I will admit, not as powerful as what I feel in this room at the moment…and from what Severus has told me." Mina gave another one of those cold smiles of hers.
Voldemort was impressed. Her cool logic was irrefutable. She had a calculating manner that appealed to him…and her obvious displeasure towards her guardian was a pleasant surprise. But how far would she go to reach her own ends.
"Your logic is appealing. And the power you would have as a part of our family would be beyond your imagining…but there is one problem with your logic…" Voldemort said simply
Mina raised an eyebrow "And what might that be?"
Voldemort leaned forward "I don't trust you…Crucio!"
Mina let the familiar pain rush over her. And thought it was terrible, she had felt worse…whatever the difference was between this Voldemort and the Voldemort of her past…this one's spells were not as powerful…a fact she noted and kept locked in her. After a moment the pain stopped. She was sweating and shaking a bit, but she had not screamed and had been able to remain standing.
"Impressive my dear. I wonder if you be able to maintain such composure if it was one of your friends in pain…" he then turned to Snape, who had been standing in the background forgotten. "Crucio!"
Snape fell to the floor in a twitching heap, though he did not scream.
Mina remained cool and composed "I think in this case it is you that have made a miscalculation."
Voldemort lowered his wand and looked at her appraisingly, saying nothing.
"You see…you seem to be under the assumption that I care whether or not he is in pain" she said, looking down at the twitching heap that was Snape, who was slowly recovering. Mina continued "And if I did care, torturing my friend would do little to inspire my loyalty…" some fire started to creep into Mina's cold expression and she looked directly at Voldemort "In fact, it might make me want to focus my strength towards stopping such an occurrence from happening again"
Snape, who had managed to stand up at this point, put a restraining hand on her shoulder "Mina…" he said with a warning, but she just shrugged his hand of and continued to stare at Voldemort coldly, her eyes blazing
Voldemort stared at her. He was completely enthralled by the woman before him. Never had he met such a witch. He walked slowly forward till he was face to face with her. With one look from him, Snape stepped back and Voldemort slowly circled around Mina "You are an amazing creature Miss Black. Never had I met someone so cold with such fire." He kept circling as he pulled out his wand "You are like my wand…a beautiful, elegant, but cold object with a hidden fire" He stopped in front of her and ran his wand gently down the side of her face "Yet in my hands, capable of such feats of power that the world would tremble before…us" he said and stepped back to look at her.
She gave him a look that was not as cold as her previous expressions. "While I am not fond of being describe as an object for you to wave around…" she gave him a slow smile "I am intrigued by your offers." She gestured to Snape that it was time to be leaving. She turned back to Voldemort "I am afraid my time is short and I must return before the others wake up. We shall meet again" she said. Snape led her towards the door.
Before she was out the door Voldemort spoke "I am not a patient man" he said, with the slightest hint of frustration
She turned back with a wide smile "What man is? You will hear from me soon…My Lord" she said and gave him deep curtsy before exiting the room and gesturing for Snape to follow her. The last thing Snape saw before he closed the door terrified him…there was a hunger in Voldemort's eyes that Snape had never seen there before…and he was smiling…
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When Mina arrived back at Sirius's house, it was to a scene of chaos. Niobe was in the corner loveseat in her bathrobe laughing her head off. Lily was also in a bathrobe, looking embarrassed but grinning. James was still in his boxers and was franticly apologizing to Sirius. Sirius was in all of his glory standing in the middle of the living room holding a pillow in front of his privates while screaming at James. Remus had managed to find his pajama pants and was sitting on the couch, laughing his head off.
"Hello everyone!" Mina shouted "Did everyone have a good morning?" she said with a smirk.
Sirius whirled to face Mina "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU PUT NIOBE IN BED WITH JAMES AND LILY!?!?!"
Mina laughed "Because it was funny" she said, giving and evil grin. Sirius stuttered and Mina sighed with exasperation "Oh come off it Sirius…nothing happened…and I had to make it look convincing, you know that. How would it have looked if I had just put everyone in bed with their significant others? And how come you are yelling at me and not at Severus. Isn't he usually your favorite target in these situations?" she said with a grin.
"Snape here may be a git…but even he is not THAT stupid" Sirius fumed "James got to be in bed with two beautiful women and you put me naked in a bed with REMUS!!! I am your BROTHER!!! And you put me in bed with your BOYFRIEND!!!" When he said the last part, he threw down the pillow he was holding for emphasis. The room went silent. Sirius looked down, looked back up and glared at his sister "I have to grab some pants…this is not over!" he said, glaring at Mina as he stormed out of the room, naked as the day he was born. The entire room erupted with laughter.
Mina sat down on the couch next to Remus and snuggled up to him. James, Lily, and Niobe went to get dressed. Snape came in after and sat stiffly on one of the dinning room chairs that he had pulled in, explaining that he refused to sit on any other surfaces in the room until they had all been sanitized.
Once everyone was dressed and back in the room, including a grumbling Sirius, Mina gave a brief account of what had happened.
"So I think we have a good in to Voldemort now. He seemed interested in me being involved." Mina said, once she was finished.
"Too interested" muttered Snape darkly
"What do you mean by that?" said Sirius suspiciously, while Mina rolled her eyes
"Do not dismiss what I am saying so lightly Mina" Snape said in a deadly serious tone "I have never seen him look at a witch that way. He sees most people, particularly women, as objects to be used and discarded once their usefulness is done. But you…you made a different kind of impression on him. If I believed him to be capable of such emotions, I would say he has designs on you." Snape finished with a shudder.
"Are you kidding me?" said Niobe and James at the same time
"But this is brilliant…don't you see?" Mina said "If what Severus is saying is true then I may be able to get Voldemort to trust me and tell me everything. This is exactly what we were hoping for."
The room erupted into arguments. While the others debated the idea of Mina's safety, Sirius loudly proclaiming that he would 'kill that fucking snake before he laid a hand on his sister to claim her', Remus and Mina had shared a silent conversation with each other, while quietly rubbing the ring fingers on their right hands. By the time the debates had died down around them, they had come to a decision.
Remus raised his hands to get everyone's attention "Guys! I think we can all agree that as much as we may not like it, Mina is right. This is the best way for us to get information from Voldemort and end this war as quickly as possible."
They all just stared at the two of them on the couch. Sirius, as usual, was the first to break the silence "Remus, no offense man, but are you actually saying you trust your girlfriend in the presence of a Dark Lord who has the hots for her?"
"I wouldn't trust my girlfriend…" Remus said. Then, after a smile and nod from Mina, he turned to the group with a smile "But I would trust my wife" he said
They all just stared for a moment.
"W-what?" said Niobe as the others just nodded with her in shock
Mina and Remus grinned at each other, then removed the disillusionment spells from their left hands and held them up for all to see the two simple gold bands on each of their ring fingers.
"We got married last week" they both said in unison
The room remained heavy with silence for the next few seconds…and then exploded with a chorus of "WHAT!?"
There you have it folks…I hope you liked it…let me know what you think and any ideas you have and all that jazz. I promise it will not be so long before the next chappie…and I promise there will be reactions from all the characters about the elopement… grin
Peace love and light
Dye