Chapter Seventeen

Eyes cautiously, warily, watching the older man prowl the room Severus worked on keeping his calm demeanour in place. Whilst it might have helped if the Dark Lord saw that he was visibly nervous, he didn't think it would help him in the long run. If he allowed his nerves to show Severus felt that his control would slip completely, giving himself away completely. It was not a prospect he looked forward to, and he had promised Ember that the Dark Lord would never find out where his true loyalties were kept.

The anger the dark wizard exhumed was palpable, Severus could feel it in waves. He had been tasked to find out the location of the Potters, which had proved fruitless for the Dark Lord with Severus never giving him an answer. Claiming he could not get any information from Dumbledore without looking suspicious, he had given the only fact he could give which didn't actually give anything away. All he was told was the Potters were under the protection of the Fidelus Charm but Severus hadn't been told who the Secret Keeper was. It was clear, due to the unbridled anger, that whoever the Dark Lord had as a spy (other than Severus) hadn't given him any useful information concerning the Potter's either.

"I'm disappointed in you, Severus." Voldemort said, his voice soft and eerily calm as he came to a stop in front of him. Raising his hand in the air Voldemort moved his fingers in a manner that made Severus believe he was genuinely imagining just grabbing him by the throat and strangling him. "I thought more of you. I believed you when you claimed you could make that old fool trust in you."

"I apologise, My Lord." Severus said, bowing his head slightly in submission. "I will work harder on this task, it is just proving harder than I anticipated. Dumbledore trusts me to an extent, but he is wary. I just need more time to make him trust me implicitly."

Voldemort looked at him, his face giving nothing away before smiling. Severus tensed, it was never a good thing when he smiled. "Very well. You are an excellent asset to my cause, Severus. I would hate to lose you. Do not fail me again."

"Thank you, My Lord. I give you my word." Severus stayed, bowing once more. Watching as his master took a step closer, he kept his gaze on the ground out of respect. The Dark Lord preferred it, feeling like you were being disrespectful by looking him in the eye unless he commanded it. Due to this Severus never witnessed when the man pulled out his wand and in the next second an unbearable pain erupted from every inch of his body.

Dropping to his knees, he grit his teeth in hopes of keeping the moans of pain from exiting his mouth. Falling onto his hands, head hung low his body started to shake unnaturally due to the strain. Dropping completely to the floor Severus gasped for air desperately when he felt the curse being lifted. "I give you my respect, Severus. Not many can stay silent under the ministrations of the Crucio curse, especially not mine." Pushing himself back up, Severus stood on shaky legs and ignored the amused tone coming from the other man.

"I am not done with you Severus. You displeased me." Shutting his eyes for a moment, Severus quickly built the shields on his mind up further as he prepared for the onslaught from the sadistic wizard. He didn't know how long he was kept there, minutes or hours he didn't know, but he felt ready to pass out by the time it was over. The Dark Lord had thrown many different curses his way, making his true displeasure known so there was no mistaking how he felt.

His entire body felt stiff, cuts littering his body as blood seeped out and onto his robes. Sweat lingered on his face, sticking his hair to his skin. His heart felt like it was trying to beat its way out of his chest, his actual breathing feeling heavy and difficult to do despite it being one of the most natural things to do. Voldemort simply looked down on him in slight annoyance and disgust before dismissing him. Limping from the room Severus rested on the wall for a few moments before pushing away and heading to the exit. Lucius' home was protected from apparating in or out so Severus sadly had to make his way out of the large house before he could go home.

"What did you do to deserve this treatment?" He heard from his left. Turning he saw Lucius making his way to him from the main parlour. Huffing, Severus stuffed his hand in his pockets.

"Being too slow apparently." He answered dryly. He didn't have time for this, he thought annoyed. Lucius seemed to pick up on his mood quite quickly and was about to leave him be when another voice entered the fray. Turning the two men spotted Barty Crouch Jr making his way over to them. It was very clear he was amused at the state Severus was in. Not that it was surprising to him, Severus had never understood the hatred the younger man had towards him. It had started back in school and seemed to develop out of nowhere, but he had always tried to beat Severus in whatever he did.

"Barty." Lucius drawled. "What are you doing in my house?"

"I've been summoned by the Dark Lord." He replied, smirking at Severus who simply raised a brow in a bored manner. "You're looking good, Snape."

"Shame I can't say the same Crouch." Ignoring the narrowing of the smaller mans eyes, Severus bid a quick goodbye to Lucius before leaving and apparating the minute he got past the wards. He shook his head when he landed in Embers bedroom. He didn't even care anymore, before he used to make excuses to why he came here first. He wasn't ashamed to admit it was where he felt the most comfortable.

Ember wasn't here. The house felt sadly empty.

Grabbing a couple of pain relieving potions he stripped himself from his clothes as he downed them. He healed himself the best he could before crawling into the bed. He could do more but he was exhausted, he didn't have any energy to do anything apart from heal the cuts marring his skin. The softness of the bed, the sheets felt amazing as they lured him into the land of sleep. He was awoken hours later to the sound of someone walking around the room.

Opening his dark eyes he watched as Ember tidied the room before changing out of her work clothes. Slipping on a robe she made her way to him, smiling when she saw he was awake. Her smiled slipped when she caught sight of a bruise upon his face.

"Oh my, what happened?" She demanded, throwing herself on the bed. Grabbing her wand she did a quick scan as he gave a quick recap of earlier in the day. Ember didn't reply, simply frowned aggressively as she muttered under hear breath. Slowly, Severus could feel his body start to relax and properly heal. Reaching his hand up he fingered her hair, smiling when she grabbed it in her own small ones and bringing it to her chest.

"I'm fine." He said, answering her silent question. Nodding her head jerkily she moved to lie next to him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her. Neither spoke for quite some time, just allowing the comfort of each other to consume them. Moving her head Ember pressed a soft kiss to the side of his neck, smiling when he shifted. Rolling until she was sat atop of him she reached down to press her lips against his. He responded immediately.

Brushing her hand down his chest she stopped when they reached the top of his underwear. Smiling when she felt the mans hips move as though impatient Ember brushed her hand over his growing erection. Using her hands Ember tugged until the fabric was no longer covering him. Kissing down his neck, Ember felt when Severus started to trace patterns on her back then moving them over her hips before going to her shoulders when he could no longer reach as she had started to kiss down his chest.

All the girl could hear was Severus' soft breathing as she kissed down his body until she reached his now fully hard erection. Wrapping her small hand around it she raised her gaze to his face. Not feeling like teasing him, this time, she got to work using her hand and mouth to bring him close before pulling away. Listening to his frustrated cursing, his harsh panting when she stopped she crawled back up until she was back where she started.

Not having a chance to do more as Severus flipped them so he was on top, bringing her into a bruising kiss. Frantically disrobing her he pushed inside of her as he grabbed her thigh, squeezing tightly before forcefully wrapping it over his waist. Severus made quick work of both of them, not having much energy still to make it last forever. Moaning her name Severus came, his body tensing as he did so. A moment later he pulled his softening penis out of her, relaxing on his back as he tried to calm his erratic breathing.

"I really hope you don't do that with all your patients after you heal them." Severus said lightly causing Ember to chuckle. Turning to look at him she smiled.

"Only the special ones."