Chapter 48: A Drift In Madness
{A/N: Here's another update...this chapter is a bit twisted...fair warning...}
My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers Enjoy-S.S.
{"All The Lawyer Are Defenseless...All The Doctor Are Diseased...And The Preachers All Are Sinners...And Police Just Take The Grease...All The Judges You Are Guilty...All The Bosses I Would Fire...All Your Banks Will Have Losses...Politicians All Are Liars...I See Darkness Falling...I Hear Voices Calling..."} Voices, Revelation Theory
Unknown Location, Unknown World...
When Hermione Granger awoke, she found herself surrounded by a seemingly endless sea of total darkness. The bushy haired witch cautiously made her way to her feet unsure if what she stood upon had been a variation of solid ground. The darkness made it near impossible to tell if movement was wise and to attempt something without having a better understanding could most definitely result in her premature death. As the witch tested the "ground" beneath her feet, she found herself noting that it had indeed been sturdy enough for her to stand on and apply the full brunt of her weight. She stepped tentatively and tested, she found herself coming into contact with what appeared to be a slick sticky substance. Frozen by fear for a moment, the witch fumbled into her pockets and produced her wand. Silently thanking Merlin for the presence of mind to pack it upon her person, she held it tight and cast a charm to enable her to see despite the creeping warm sense of fear that took hold of her. With goose-pimples lining her trembling arms, Hermione cast the charm.
"Lumos!" she said in a voice not at all portraying the fear she felt bubbling within her stomach.
With deep slow breaths she took in the sight of the black "floor" below her. It was slick and shiny, like a heavily polished dress shoe someone like Lucius Malfoy would have worn prior to the war. She noted a strange crimson substance streaking through the center of the "floor". It occurred to her that this was what she had stepped in prior to getting out her wand and she cringed.
Upon further investigation, she noted the strange crimson substance seemed to be moving, it had been condensed into a small barely visible stream and appeared to be flowing toward her in slow motion. With her amber eyes on the apparent horizon she could barely make out what appeared to be a dilapidated house made mostly of brick. Fearing what has become of Severus, Hermione made her way toward the house using her wand to produce a sort of illuminated brick path to guide her steps and ensure that she wouldn't fall into the dark abyss that surrounded her. The small stream of blood seemed to be flowing from the house itself noted the bushy haired witch as she got closer.
The house appeared quite large and rather menacing. As she reached the first concrete steps. Blood had covered them dying the cement crimson as she stood trying desperately to ignore that the substance had been on the bottom of her formerly white trainers. Still exercising caution Hermione gripped her wand tight in her hand prepared to unleash hex after hex should something come for her from inside. Steeling her jumbling nerves, Hermione raised her free hand and attempted to knock on the large wooden door.
Much to her shock, before the skin of her knuckles could even graze the wood, the door opened seemingly of it's own accord.
Still holding tight to her wand, Hermione took a tentative step forward.
Inside The Dilapidated Brick House...
She had not liked the look of the house before her, the scent of old wood and worn leather caught her nose as soon as the door halted near the wall. Knowing entering this place was a bad idea, Hermione steeled herself and took another step inside. As much as it had been a bad idea, it seemed to be the only way forward and she needed to go forward if she was ever going to find Severus.
As Hermione took her second step inside the darkened house, the sound of hard wood floor boards creaked and caused her to jump rather violently still clutching her wand ready to pounce on whatever had made the noise. No sooner had she jumped, the front door shut itself and locked in place. Filled with panic, the bushy haired witch raced over toward the door and tried desperately to get herself out but to no avail. In her various attempts to get free of this dreadful place she was making a good deal of noise.
"You have to be quiet." said a soft voice in the darkness.
Hermione whirled around and trained her wand in the direction in which the voice came.
The bushy haired witch found herself face to face with a pale, thin boy with lengthy wild raven hair who looked to be of about ten with weary obsidian eyes. The witch had been shocked into relative silence.
"You have to be quiet or he'll hear you." continued the boy as if ignoring her shocked expression. "If he hears you he'll hurt you."
Sensing the seriousness in the boy's tone, Hermione pulled herself together still stunned by his appearance.
"S-Severus?" she said taking a wild and very accurate guess about the ten year old before her.
The boy tilted his head like that of a confused dog then narrowed his obsidian eyes in her direction.
"How do you know my name?" he asked mistrust evident in his tone.
"I-I know you very well." replied Hermione as quietly as she could manage. "I-I we...are friend...very good friends..."
"I wasn't aware that I had very many friends." he replied. "Aside from Lily that is."
He suddenly took in what he could of her appearance.
"Y-You aren't Lily are you?" he asked tentatively. "As...as a grown up?"
Hermione smiled sweetly at him.
"No Severus." she replied. "My name's Hermione...you and I become friends when you grow up."
Ten Year old Severus considered this as she looked her over once more. Hermione had not missed the note of heat behind the young boy's obsidian eyes.
"I suppose I could do worse in terms of a friend." said Severus.
Hermione rolled her eyes. Apparently Severus was gifted with dark humor even at the age of ten.
"Can I ask you something?" asked Hermione.
Severus arched an eyebrow at her.
"Aren't you doing just that?" he countered.
Hermione noted that she had walked right into that.
"Who is the HE you are referring to?" she asked.
Severus suddenly went silent his body tense almost like he had seen a ghost.
"Don't." he said finding his voice at last. "Don't speak of him or he'll come down here."
"Maybe I can help you." said Hermione.
Severus shook his head.
"No." he replied. "No one can help me."
Hermione had been about to interject when Severus suddenly glanced at the top of the stair.
"You have to hide." he whispered. "Hide and whatever happens don't come out."
"Severus let me help you." she insisted.
The ten year old wasn't hearing any of it. He quickly walked Hermione to what appeared to be a hall closet and pushed her inside. She had been stunned when the boy used wand-less magic to lock her inside. Outside the door she could hear voices. One voice was of a grown man, his tone was furious and she could tell by the slur of his words that he had been both drunk and enraged.
{"DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO KEEP THE NOISE DOWN FREAK!"} shouted the angry drunken man.
{"I-I'm sorry father."} replied ten year old Severus.
{"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"} shouted the drunken man.
Hermione heard the sounds of flesh being struck and knew instantly that the drunk had hit the ten year old boy. Feeling rage of her own, Hermione attempted to get out of the closet and assist the boy but it was to no avail. They could neither hear her nor would the door open. Feeling the mounting fear build within her, the bushy haired witch used her wand to escape the confines of the hall closet.
Once she emerged from the darkened door she found herself in a more homely setting of a sitting room. The hard wood floor had been more pronounced as she stepped across it.
She could see the minimal spaced sitting room lined with threadbare furniture and a small shelf packed with books of every sort. It appeared to be an old collection, one that someone had and carried with them as opposed to a well amassed one. The bushy haired witch stepped cautiously into the sitting room and made her way toward the creaky wooden stairs that lead all the way up to the second floor. Curiosity filled her about this strange house and the people that inhabited it.
What she had known of Spinner's End was simply theoretical knowledge and history considering what Harry had seen in Snape's mind during the occulemency lessons. The rest had been from reports in The Daily Prophet about the place being burned to the ground via violent mobs wanting justice for Snape's murdering of Dumbledore.
Slowly, and carefully, Hermione inched her way up the creaking wood stairs. She got to the first level and came across a hall with four doors. One door was obviously too the loo, the other was a hall closet and one on the far left side of the hall away from the stairs and one on the right nearest to the stairs.
Taking a wild guess and adamantly wishing not to run into the drunken man whom had inspired great fear in everyone that lived inside this dreary house, Hermione made her way to the door on the left furthest from the stairs. It seemed the ideal place to hide when she heard the familiar sound of the front door slam shut and hurried foot steps behind her on the stairs.
The Room On The Left...
Once inside she made her way to the small door-less closet and ducked behind the rows of tattered coats and robes. When she looked up from a small space where she could see the door she had entered, she was stunned to find that it swung open rather violently. Footsteps proceeded the door slamming shut and someone made their way over to the small brass twin bed by the wall. Hermione had gotten only a glimpse of her surroundings but she found herself in a room surrounded by various posters of rock musicians and dark themed portraits. It had occurred to the witch that she was in the bedroom of a teenager rather than a ten year old boy.
Her suspicions were confirmed when suddenly a deep baritone voice caught her attention. It was a pale version of the deep baritone drawl she would come to know during her first year at Hogwarts and thence forward, but it was unmistakable none the less.
"Come out...come out where ever you are." it said almost taunting her. "I know you're in here...Mudblood."
Hermione's eyes widened as she realized Snape was a full fledged death eater in his youth and not at all repentant about his actions. Teenage Snape was evidently getting impatient as he paced his floor.
"You have until the count of one." said the enraged teen.
Before he could go any further, Hermione made herself known.
"Alright." she said holding her hands in the air as she came from his closet.
The bushy haired witch had been stunned to find herself staring into the obsidian eyes of a 16 year old Severus Snape. A twisted smile filed across his sallow pale face.
"Well, well." said Teen Snape circling her like a vulture would it's prey. "A Mudblood who dares to hid in the lair of the Half-Blood Prince...this is my lucky day."
"I wish you wouldn't call me that." she said. "You don't even like the word yourself, my name is Hermione."
The 16 year old studied her incredulously.
"What do you know about me?" he asked. "You're just a..."
"I know that you are studying to become a Potions Master." said Hermione confidently, "That you name is Severus Sebastian Snape, and you have recently joined Tom Riddle's Death Eaters, a move that cost you the love and respect of your only childhood friend Lily Evans...I know that you have created your fair share of charms and hexes despite having a constant dislike of "foolish wand waving and silly incantations"."
Teen Snape arched an eyebrow at her in shock.
Feeling she had him, Hermione continued.
"You call yourself The Half-Blood Prince because it is a moniker based off your mother's maiden name from her Pureblood family and your blood status considering you have a muggle father."
Teen Snape narrowed his obsidian eyes in her direction.
"How do you know any of this?" he asked clearly enraged by her keen insight into his personal life.
"I know all of this because for several years you were my Potions Professor when I attended Hogwarts." said Hermione. "And some time after...much more."
Teen Snape flashed Hermione a rather wicked grin.
"Define much more." he said already guessing the implication but wanting to see how far he could push this witch to say.
"We are intimate." said the bushy haired witch already knowing his antics. "We shag on a regular basis...I know what your cock looks like...is that what you want to hear?"
Teen Snape seemed satisfied with her vulgar answer and flashed her an eerie smile.
Before Hermione could protest Teen Snape scooped her up and tossed her onto his bed. His obsidian eyes heated with lust. Hermione tried her best to ignore his antics and focus on the mission at hand. He joined her shortly there after kissing her neck like so many times before.
"What are you doing here...insufferable know it all?" he asked sounding a lot like his adult self. "Why have you entered my mind?"
"I wanted to help you." said Hermione reveling in the sensation he was causing to run though her body. "You're having too many black outs."
Teen Snape sighed.
"Then He is finally taking control." he said in a weary tone.
His words had not been lost on Hermione.
"Who is HE?" she asked with an arched eyebrow of her own.
"HE is the bad man." said the voice of ten year old Snape as he stepped from the shadows.
Teen Snape rolled his eyes.
"Don't you ever knock?" he asked greatly annoyed.
"It's my room too." replied the raven haired boy.
Hermione looked back n forth between them.
"Can't you see that I'm entertaining." said Teen Snape.
"She came to check on me." countered Ten year old Snape.
"Boys." said Hermione unable to take much more of the bickering. "Will one of you tell me where we are and what is going on here?"
Teen Snape sighed resigned to the fact that he wouldn't be getting laid after all. He sat back on the bed letting Hermione sit up and fix her shirt. Ten Year old Snape simply smiled sweetly at her and began to speak.
"You are in our head." he said. "HE is the bad man who wants to take control...we fight him but there is only so much a ten year old and a hormonal teen can do."
"Do you know where big Severus...where my Severus is?" asked Hermione.
Teen Snape rolled his eyes.
"It his fault all this is happening." he said bitterly. "Some Slytherin he turned out to be...he's got more guilt then the entire house of Gryffindors."
"Guilt?" asked the bushy haired witch. "What has him feeling so guilty?"
"You'll have to ask that stupid sod." replied Teen Snape. "I am doing just fine...especially now that Tobias is gone...all the booze I could drink and all the trim I could sink my cock into."
Hermione studied Teen Snape for a moment.
"You." she said suddenly understanding whom her boyfriend had in control of his actions for so long.
Teen Snape smirked.
"Can't get enough of my cock can you witch?" he asked smugly.
"Can't get enough wine can you, arrogant git?" she asked annoyed.
Noting her distaste for his drinking habit Teen Snape simply shrugged.
"I like to have fun." he said. "It's not my fault your boyfriend's a massive control freak."
"There is nothing wrong with a little self-control." said Hermione.
"Look who's talking." replied Teen Snape. "One second out of the closet and I already had you on your back ready to spread your legs for me."
Even Ten year old Snape agreed that had been worth a laugh.
"Unbelievable." said Hermione. "Once a git apparently always a git."
"And you like it." replied Teen Snape. "Don't pretend you don't...it's why we have you."
The bushy haired witch rolled her eyes.
"Back to business boy." she said. "We have to find my Severus and put things right here."
"Easy for you to say." said Teen Snape. "Your lover boy's been captured by HIM."
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Who is the HIM and HE that you keep referring to?" she asked annoyed.
"He's the bad man." said Ten year old Snape. "He wants to control us...to make us bad too."
This made Hermione consider a few things.
"This bad man...he doesn't look like a snake does he?" she asked. "Or go by the name Voldemort?"
Ten year old Snape's eyes widened.
Hermione knew right then that this wasn't going to be good. If Voldemort had done something to inhabit Snape's body the wizarding world was doomed and this time there was no prophecy to cling to in the hopes of defeating him, Harry Potter would be completely useless in this regard.
The bushy haired hoped beyond all hope that this wasn't the case. But Snape's ability to speak Parseltongue was giving off big warning signs. Harry himself only spoke Parseltongue due to Voldemort having made him an accidental Horcrux.
