Chapter Fifty Five- The Dark Lord

Disclaimer-Most of these characters belong to JK Rowling, I'm just borrowing…

Nineteen seventy three was already boring and annoying him…he retired early to his side of the bed and resumed reading a book.

The next day the duo joined the Albanian brats, the whore and his father for breakfast. Severus once again noticed Verunia had her wand out. There was no reason for her to do that. The Albanian brats asked Lucius if he liked the Merlin. They reminded him that he was charmed to follow him around, do menial tasks and even interact on occasion.

"If you want him to stop, just join us and I'll teach you the counter-curse on him," Verunia said stuffing a blintz into her fat mouth.

"We'll discuss that at another time," Lucius said looking furious.

"Why? Who cares if the Half-Blood hears what we are talking about?" Verunia asked.

"I care," Lucius said looking at Severus who was really confused.

"He's a great man Lucius," Verunia added.

"I know, I agree whole heartedly. I just don't think in front of company is the appropriate place to discuss this. Besides I'm still in school."

"True Lucius, have you given any thought to a career?" Abraxas asked.

"Some," Lucius said stabbing his eggs but not eating them.

"Good. Soon you'll need to marry, and you may want your own house…"

"Yeah, you can't stay here," Wallace interrupted as Abraxas looked angry but said nothing.

"Marry, who should he marry dear?" Verunia asked piercing her sausages.

"One of the Rosier or Lestrange girls would be nice. Also the Diggory daughter, though she's quite young," Abraxas said sipping his coffee.

"Father I told you I'm courting Narcissa Black!"

"Who, who is that?" Verunia asked, raising her wand slightly at her future husband. "Is she wealthy?"

"She is inappropriate Lucius," Abraxas stated, suddenly glaring at Severus who felt really out of place.

"Why?"

"I told you! Her sister is a disgrace! She soiled the family name and reputation by marrying a lowly Muggle-born. I can't have that in my fine family."

"She is not her sister! She's a perfectly lovely person of great breeding. They are not the most wealthy of the Black's but do well enough for her to have had a very proper upbringing."

"Lucius, I understand that, but I simply can't have that filth in my family," Abraxas said glaring at his son.

"No, no, no, no," Verunia added. "No we can not have that in this family. No Muggle-born relatives."

"This is not your decision Miss Volques," Lucius exclaimed throwing his fork down and quickly rising from his seat. "Father, you were promised to another but fell in love with my mother. Mum was from a good family with not the best reputation but you married her regardless. Why can I not do the same?"

Abraxas had a sudden sentimental look in his blue eyes which instantly turned cold with a glance from the future Mrs. Malfoy.

"If you marry that girl I'll cut you off financially for good. You understand? The trust fund you received when you turned seventeen will not last you for life, not in the manner in which you are accustomed that is. This discussion is over!" he said slamming his fist down on the fine table.

Lucius walked out of the room and Severus followed. It seemed even in very old, prominent and wealthy family's fathers and sons argued, power struggles ensued, and everyone was miserable.

"Lucius, who does she want you to join?" Severus asked once they were alone in Lucius's room.

"No one," he said beginning to pack his trunk for the trip back to Hogwarts the next morning.

"No one my arse, that wizard who lived in Albania?"

"Yes."

"Who is he?"

"He's no one."

"If he's no one then why does she talk about him so much?"

"Just shut up Severus," Lucius grunted giving Severus a ferocious look.

"Fuck you! I didn't fuckin' ask to be here. I didn't fuckin' ask to witness all of this shit and be around those horrible people."

Lucius stopped packing and looked at the irate boy standing before him. Even the Merlin looked angry and had his arms crossed at its chest. Lucius sat on the bed, closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. "Sit," he said looking into the fire opposite his bed.

"No."

"Please?"

"Why should I?"

"Severus, you are too young okay? I didn't want to tell you all of this right now. You won't understand."

"Try me."

"Oh for God's sake, just because you are practically a genius and a talented wizard does not mean you are not still a child and can comprehend this."

Severus glared at the seated wizard. True he was barely thirteen and didn't know shit about life. He had been through more than most kids his age. He raised himself, heard his parents call each other every name in the book, he'd taught himself magic and even strengthened, changed or invented some spells as well.

"I'll find out on my own. Won't be hard to find the name of a wizard from Britain who lived in Albania you know."

"Fine! He's known as the Dark Lord. He is the single most powerful wizard who has ever lived," Lucius said nearly in a whisper. This all intrigued Severus so he slowly took a seat on the bed closer to Lucius to hear more. "He is the only living descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself!" That impressed Severus. He raised his brows upon hearing that such a person even existed. "He has followers, people who help further his cause."

"His cause?"

"Yes, his followers help propagate his ideals and beliefs."

"Is he a politician?"

"Of sorts," Lucius said after a long hesitation. "His views are political. He has great foresight and ideas for the wizarding world."

"Have you met him?" Severus asked.

"I have, once. Miss Volques actually introduced me and my father to him. Miss Volques is closer to him, she may be one of his followers or just a supporter."

"What's the difference?" Severus asked.

"Well, he has more supporters than followers, people who agree with him but have not joined him in his quest to take over the wizarding world. My father likes what his views are but has no desire to 'follow' him at all. The Dark Lord does have very good ideals."

"What are his ideals?"

Lucius paused a lot. He seemed to choose his words well and seemed to avoid saying too much.

"He believes in the purification of the wizarding world."

"The purification of the wizarding world?"

"Yes, our world, as you have noticed, has become corrupt. We are forced into hiding for example. We must be kept secret from the Muggles who otherwise would torment, torture and slaughter us. We can not just go and do as we please, for we are always at risk of being seen or caught by Muggles. There are wizards out there who have no idea they are wizards, because they are not from all wizard families."

"Mudbloods."

"Precisely," Lucius said with an acknowledging smile. "Think about it Severus. We are to be kept secret, we vowed to be kept secret, and we hide to retain that secret. Then, by some freak occurrence a mudblood is born. The Muggles in their family see their magic, and are confused by it as they are told magic is a myth or some kind of curse sent from Satan himself. They can not explain why the mudblood is the way they are. Many mudbloods are killed for that reason, or worse, sent off to Muggle hospitals for experimentation."

Hearing this shocked Severus, whose mouth was dropped. It all did seem to make perfect sense though. What if Lily's parents had not embraced magic? Look at Petunia who hates it. What if she were Lily's mother? She'd have Lily sent off to a loony hospital or killed even for being different.

"So what do we do? Someone decided that we must come out of hiding and expose ourselves to that mudbloods family. The same Ministry that dictates we remain silent and secretive about who we are is the same Ministry that embraces mudbloods and their families into our world. Some Muggles find out about us and tell other's about it. We've had many Muggles come onto our property for example, or on the Hogwarts grounds, or go searching for the Ministry of Magic itself! They do this no doubt to expose us and lead us to slaughter. How are we to be kept secret when Dumbledore, Hogwarts and the Ministry go out telling Muggles all about us and our world?"

"We can't! That's very unsafe."

"Precisely. You told me you were the one who informed Miss Evans of her magical status. You unknowingly broke our vow of secrecy Severus. What if she had told on you or went to the Muggle authorities? You'd be dead or being held prisoner somewhere."

He was right! What was he thinking when he did that?

"You knew no better at the time. I don't fault you and you said her parent's were more than accepting of it. But most are not. Mudbloods are a rare thing, thank God. They often receive no proper magical education yet insist on living like proper witches and wizards. They do not belong here with us. What do they contribute to our world? Nothing! Most end up living in their own world and become fortune tellers or 'magicians' for show. Useless."

"But Lucius, if they never are told of what they are and never taught how to control it, they could do all sorts of horrible things! They could blow things up without even trying and…"

"Not necessarily Severus. They'd have no wands, most could perform only benign wandless magic. They could be told I imagine but should not live in our world. They know nothing of our culture. Why do magical children wear Muggle clothes? Listen to Muggle music, eat Muggle food? Because of these filthy mudbloods infiltrating our tiny world and changing it to suit their own needs. They wish to live among us and use what our world offers them to better themselves yet can't bear to leave their own world behind, so they integrate it into ours. It's ludicrous when you think of it."

"It is, when you explain it like that at least," Severus agreed. He'd never thought about it like that but everything Lucius said was right.

"Why should we be the ones in hiding Severus and not them?"

"Well that's simple Lucius, because they out number us."

"So do cockroaches Severus and we do not hide from them and cater to them do we?"

"No, we kill them."

"Precisely."

"Lucius, we can't kill all Muggles."

"We can but we won't. They kill us it seems, not the other way around. They are useless and weak. They have no business being here. They can kill us but we can't kill them, how's that fair?"

"It's not," Severus said holding his head down. This was a lot of information for one morning.

"The Dark Lord wishes to purify our world, eliminate all mudbloods from it. Perhaps someday after he's successful in his plans we will no longer live in hiding and can walk around and live our lives and no longer fear persecution."

"Does he…I mean, he won't want to kill all mudbloods?" Severus said thinking of Lily.

"Oh…no. Just keep them from living and working in our world. They have no business here Severus. None. Only one out of every two hundred wizards and witches are mudbloods you know. Why we must cater to them is a mystery."

"I agree."

"I thought you might," Lucius said with a very large and honest looking smile.

"And this, Dark Lord, he wants to just stop them from being a part of our world?"

"Exactly."

"But Lily is a great witch, she's very talented…."

"That may be Mr. Snape," Lucius said rolling his eyes and interrupting him. "That's not the point. She may be talented but she has no business in our world. Can you just move to France because you just want to? No. You need work permits…you can't just live somewhere unless you are born there and be accepted. It's plain and simple."

"Oh, I think she likes being a witch."

"I'm sure she does. But do you really think her family keeps her a secret? Do they honor our secrecy and tell no one? What do they really think of her?"

"I dunno how they feel about her, I know they like me but don't love me. They think I'm a little weird."

Lucius laughed.

"I know you like her but she's not one of us Severus. She's not. We belong here; she belongs with them, with Muggles. And our Lord is trying to further that point to the other's in our world."

"And you wish to follow him?"

"I do, though I'm still a student and have nothing to offer him. You heard my father; he's going to cut me off, so I won't even have money to offer him. I want to follow him because I chose to not because that whore tell me to."

"You're going to marry her even if your father cuts you off for doing so?"

"The only way I'm not marrying her is if she refuses me Mr. Snape."

"Okay, Mr. Malfoy," Severus said with a small smile, which Lucius returned in kind. "I think you should join the Dark Lord now just to get the counter curse on that Merlin. He's awful."

"He is. But it's a life commitment; I would not make it for that reason. Plus I want to know how Narcissa feels about it before I make my decision. Her sister Bella follows the Dark Lord after all."

"Will your father be mad? He's not a follower you said."

"No, he supports him, not follows. He likes his philosophies but not work for him to further his cause vocally. As soon as I figure out exactly how I can serve the Dark Lord and after I talk to Narcissa about it, then I'll join him. Perhaps someday, you will too."

"Perhaps," Severus said. He suddenly had a lot to think about.

--

Severus was anxious to leave Malfoy Manor. The opulence he experienced the first week was trumped by the Malfoy's and Volques's the last week. Severus thought it odd that Miss Volques always had her wand at the ready and that Abraxas Malfoy seemed so keen on her. So keen he was kicking his only son out of the house! He may even transfer all of his money to her sons and not Lucius in his will.

He was happy to be back in his own room in the dungeons and the only things he really missed were the bed and his luxurious bath. He wanted to research some about the odd behavior displayed by Miss Volques and see if he could find a way to destroy the Merlin, who followed Lucius back to Hogwarts.

The first thing Severus did upon his return was to wait outside for the arrival of the carriages so he could see Lily. He spotted her in an instant. Her radiant red hair was glowing in the setting sun. She made her way up the stairs and waved and smiled at him but then continued on with her roommates without stopping to say hello. There was always tomorrow.

The first night back he was reminded by Lucius of a book he promised to lend him. It was the book with the bee-spell. He gave it to Lucius and informed him to be careful with it. It was a one of a kind and over five hundred years old. Lucius promised to look it over and give it right back to Severus.

Severus spent the rest of the week getting teased by Potter and Black, being avoided by Lily and searching the library for some information on a couple of ideas he had. One of them was a hunch and the other was a hypothesis. The only way to gather the information he required was to sneak into the restricted section and search the texts for answers. After a week of solid research, he found what he was looking for. He needed to talk to Lucius.

"Lucius," he asked sitting on Lucius's bed in his private quarters. "Do you know of the Imperius Curse?"

"The Imp…how did you hear of it?"

"I read about it. Do you know it?"

"I do, I know of it that is. Why do you ask?" Lucius asked looking uncomfortable.

"I think Miss Volques is using it on your father."

Lucius looked away from Severus and appeared to be in deep concentration. He raised his hand to his lips and brushed his bottom lip while looking off into space for several minutes.

"Why do you think that?"

"It all fits. She always has her wand out. I noticed a couple of times he had an odd look on his face, then she'd point the wand at him and he'd start talking like her almost. You said he was crazy about your mum…"

"He was insane over her, absolutely insane…"

"Exactly, then why is he marring that hag and allowing that hag to remove you, the rightful heir from your own house?"

"The Imperius is a very fickle curse. It's impossible to prove or disprove, that's why it's Unforgivable."

"It's simple, remove her wand next time you see her and then see how your father reacts."

"Just disarm her then?"

"Yup."

"Easier said than done," Lucius said looking utterly distraught. "This is bad this is very, very bad."

"I know. Hey, speaking of books, where's my book?"

"Oh, uh," Lucius said suddenly sounding nervous. "It was in my bag and I left my bag on the pitch to watch practice last week and remember the rain? Well it rained all over that book and…well, I'm afraid the book is ruined."

"Ruined?"

"Yes, since it was written in ink, it all smeared. I'm so sorry Severus."

"Give it to me, I can fix it perhaps."

"Oh, uh. No. It was beyond repair. The wind knocked my bag over and mud got in it and it was a disaster. The ink had bled through, I'm so sorry. I'm willing to compensate you for it though, fifty Galleons?"

"Fifty? That book is priceless Lucius!"

"It was priceless. I'm so sorry, I feel awful," he said unconvincingly.

"You fucking asshole!" Severus shouted rising from the bed.

"I said I was sorry, I feel terrible and…"

"Feel this!" Severus shouted while throwing a stinging hex, followed by a slime hex straight for Lucius's face. Lucius grabbed for his face and dodged the slime hex but got the stinging hex right on his nose.

"Damn it Severus! Stop! Don't make me take points away from my own House!"

"Fuck you! You destroyed my book after I told you to be careful!" he shouted. He slammed the door and hurried back to his own room. He vowed never again to ever lend a book to another person. And he never did.

Thankfully Severus had committed every hex he liked in that book to memory. He jotted them all down in a notebook, cast a privacy charm on the notebook and shrunk it to hide in his trunk.

The next day Severus was having dinner and saw Lucius for the first time since the incident. His nose was swollen and bright red. Lucius gave Severus a stiff nod when he saw him and Severus just glared back at him. He was disgusted and furious. He always took such good care of his own things and for Lucius to be so careless was unacceptable. At that moment he didn't care if he ever spoke to Lucius Malfoy again. He was about to say as much when he glanced over to find Lily looking at him from across the room. She smiled and waved and soon Severus felt instantly better.

--

He'd discovered the reason why Abraxas was acting so oddly, so then it was time for his other hunch. The mystery that was Remus Lupin. He had to break into the restricted section again to research his theory on the boy and why he looked so horrific each month. He removed the texts and wandered over to a table where he had privacy. He sat alone and read the books which were all written in ancient Greek.

He was deep in concentration when he saw blue satin robes in front of him. He looked up to find Narcissa Black staring down at him.

"May I?" she asked pointing to the seat across from him.

"You may," he said cautiously. How low for Lucius to send his girlfriend to talk to him. Lucius knew he'd never hex a girl.

She had a large wooden box in her hands which she put on the table near his books.

"Open it."

"If it's a snow globe with a Viking Lucius, I may just vomit."

"It's not," she said smiling.

He opened the box to find a myriad of shrunken treasures. First was a tea set equipped with the pot, cups, saucers, honey container and cream decanter made from pewter which was somehow stained black. On the tea pot was the inscription "SS". Next was a pouch containing at least 100 vials of the bath oil he'd admired, a wireless radio and another pouch containing fifty Galleons. There was also a note.

Dear Severus,

My eternal apologies for inadvertently destroying your book. I feel so awful words simply do not describe. You have been such a good friend to me and this is how I repay you. Could you ever forgive me?

Your friend, Lucius

"God."

"He prefers to go by Lucius I think," Narcissa said with a wink.

"You have a sense of humor, your boyfriend does not."

"He does, it's just…subtle. He feels horrible."

"No doubt he had to cower in your breasts like an ostrich all week because of it."

Narcissa did not look amused. To think he'd just complimented her on her sense of humor a few moments before.

"I'm just the messenger Severus. Take the gifts or not, I really do not care," she said rising from her seat and regally walking off.

The tea set was okay, but fifty Galleons was a different story. He could buy all sorts of things for Lily with fifty Galleons.

Upon further reflection he decided to use the money for new second-hand robes, new summer clothes and for books and supplies. That way Argus would not have to foot the bill. It was the right thing to do.

Severus was pretty sure he'd solved the Remus Lupin mystery but he needed to wait one more week to be certain.

One Tuesday Severus was in the Great Hall eating breakfast when he noticed Lily get up from her table, walk clear across the Great Hall and over to his own table. She smiled and handed him a yellow card.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's your birthday dummy!" she said laughing.

"Oh, right. Yeah, thanks," he said accepting the card. His roommates all gawked and made funny faces while Lucius just gave him a grin. She smiled and headed back to her own table. Why didn't she just give it to him in class? He was too embarrassed to open in at his own table so he shoved it in his book bag.

"You're not gonna open it?" Wilkes asked.

"No, I'll open it later," said before rising and leaving the Great Hall. He really couldn't wait to open it but did not want to with the entire Hall watching.

The day came and went and Lily's was the only birthday greeting he received. He did get a verbal happy birthday from Lucius but nothing from his mother. You only turn thirteen once but really, he did not care much. Gifts and cards and cake didn't change that fact that he was turning thirteen regardless if anyone cared or not.

Her card was nice. It was a store bought Muggle card that she signed, "Your best mate, Lily."

Severus still was not on real speaking terms with Lucius. He'd nod when nodded to but he was still enraged that his book was ruined. He thought to inquire if Lucius had done anything about his Imperiused father but decided to limit his interaction with the prefect.

For the next week Severus pretty much kept to himself, avoided Lucius, longed for any interaction with Lily and kept a very close eye on one Remus Lupin.