Idem et Diversum
Rating: M
Pairings: main SS/HG, side and alternate universe pairs: anyone/anyone.
Warnings: AU, OOC-ness, femslash, slash, het, violence, alternate universe hopping, time travel and occasional bits of ridiculousness
Please read the following before deciding to read:
This story will eventually contain, well, a whole lot of everything. Basically, expect anything and everything. That includes ooc alternate versions of the characters, scenarios that could be upsetting to some readers and any and/or all possible pairings. Seriously, I mean it. It's a bit of a spoiler but there's even a bit of Ron/Umbridge. That's how anyone/anyone this fic is.
If you have a lot of deal breakers, triggers or squicks, then this fic probably isn't for you.
I will say there will be no positively portrayed or romanticized minor/adult pairings. The same goes for any noncon/dubcon situations. But, note, they will be in this fic.
If you have any specific concerns about content or possible triggers feel free to private message me and I will do my best to assuage your fears. Or not, depending on what that fear is.
Also, while SS/HG is the main pairing and eventual endgame, it's not the main focus of this fic. Plus the main SS and HG (and many of their alternate versions) will be involved with other characters. If you are a rampant SS/HG OTPer looking for a romance, again, this fic may not be for you. (But give it try you might like it anyway. ;) )
Chapter Specific Warning: This chapter contains implications of abuse. Keep in mind, not everything is as it seems.
Severus Snape had just taken a sip of Malfoy's excellent elf-made wine when he suddenly remembered he had left a very important and volatile potion brewing in his home lab. He slammed his glass on the table, and without a word to his companions, he stormed over to the dining room's fireplace in a furious billow of robes.
"Is something the matter, Severus?" asked Narcissa, her eyes widening with astonishment.
Severus ignored her as he tossed in a bit of floo powder, and then called out, "The Phoenix Nest!"
After a topsy-turvy journey through the Floo Network, he stepped into a library, its walls lined with books, floor to ceiling. The room might have been called elegant if not for its lurid purple carpet and clashing lime-green furniture. Severus always sneered whenever he should happen upon the place and even now, despite his urgency, he could not resist a disgusted lip curl. Severus shook himself out of his revulsion only to be alarmed by three chilling facts.
Fact one: he had not so much as brewed a pot of tea, let alone a potion, in the last few days. This led to the second fact: someone had cast a compulsion jinx on him. He was certain of it. Someone had wanted him to leave the Malfoys and return home. And Severus knew it had everything to do with the third fact.
There, pressed against the only wall with a window, was a large case made of black glass and it was rather reminiscent of a muggle coffin. And it was not empty.
Severus's face froze with shock and anger. Someone had jinxed him and infiltrated the Nest!
The latter should have been impossible. Severus had erected heavy wards against visitors unless he personally gave expressed permission to enter each and every time. Whoever broke through his wards must be a formidable wizard.
With great caution, he inched across the room, each step carefully placed as if the floor was littered with landmines. As he grew nearer, the lid on the case slowly creeped open and he took an instinctive step back. Just then, the flames in the fireplace flared green and a startled Severus nearly hexed Lucius Malfoy's floating head.
"Severus," he drawled in a bored voice, "Narcissa was alarmed by your abrupt departure and wanted me to check on you."
An idea occurred to Severus and he looked at Lucius with what he hoped was bland indifference. "Step through, Lucius, there's something I want to show you."
Lucius raised a suspicious eyebrow but his head disappeared and a moment later it was replaced by the man himself. "This had better be good," Lucius said as he brushed the soot off his robes. "My brunch grows cold."
Severus merely nodded at the glass case. After an inquisitive glance, Lucius blithely strolled over to it. If there were any sort of dangerous traps or triggers surrounding the thing... Well, better that Lucius should find them. Breath held, Severus watched him examine the case and its contents.
To his shock, Lucius let out a snickering chuckle.
"Well, well, Severus, whatever have you been doing?" Lucius asked, turning to Severus with a smirk. He rubbed his hands together as if ridding them of something unpleasant. "More of a whoever, I suppose. The child is yours, yes?"
The child?
Severus hesitated a moment then joined Lucius at the mysterious glass case. Inside lay a sleeping and very pregnant young woman. She had a mass of black curls and her face was starkly white. Her lips were a deep red but it seemed natural rather than make up. Stangely, her facial features seemed more suitable for a young child.
After his perusal, Several stepped back and frowned. "I have never seen this woman before in my life."
Why did that feel like a lie?
The woman was known to him in some way. She was of an age to have been one of his students but surely he would remember a girl with such a child-like face. He could not identify her by appearance alone.
He cautiously reapproached the woman, wondering if there were any items or clues within the glass case. He swept aside a green quilt embroidered with gold thread that covered her to the chin. His stomach lurched but not because of the unexpected nudity.
Her mangled flesh was a testimony of horrific abuse. Bruises, both fresh and fading, covered her entire body, right down to her too thin legs. Some were clear outlines of hand and finger prints. Others were mottled fuzzy splotches.
And the scars!
They criss-crossed against her torso. There was something about the pattern of the old silvery lines on her upper chest and shoulders that poked at his memory. Had he seen them before? Severus couldn't remember. He wasn't sure if he wanted to.
Her swollen stomach was perhaps the worst of all. The skin was blackened here and there, suggesting necrosis. And nearly every inch of it was covered in tears of varying states of healing. It was as if the woman's stomach was being routinely clawed to shreds.
Yet, there was also evidence of tender care. A balm had been applied to her cracked lips and other areas where the skin was dry and rough. Her fingernails were carefully trimmed and buffed to a shine. Most telling was her scent. She smelled like Syrup of Arnica and Horklump juice, but above all, baby powder. A clear sign she had been rubbed with Mother's Lullaby, an incredibly potent pain-relieving ointment that could only be brewed and applied by someone who loved her.
What had this woman been through? Someone had abused her greatly. But, someone had also loved her. Maybe the same someone. He knew from personal experience how easy it was to hurt someone you claimed to love.
"Fuck, Severus!" Lucius exclaimed with disgust. "What have you got yourself into?"
"A set up, that's what." Severus's face was blank, even placid appearing, but in truth he was paralyzed with anger and no small amount of fear. "Perhaps there's a-"
"Did you think I wouldn't recognise the Malfoy Arachne?" Lucius yelled. "You dare steal from me after I so generously lended you its use?"
Severus suddenly found himself at the end of Malfoy's wand. "What the hell are you on about?"
Lucius pointed angrily at the woman's neck.
Severus now noticed a delicate golden chain nearly invisible around her neck. A moth shaped amulet was attached to the long chain and had been obscured by her profusion of curls. He picked it up briefly, feeling calmed by a soothing vibration. He let it rest on the woman's chest.
"The Malfoy Arachne? This is clearly a moth."
The amulet was incredibly similar to the Malfoy Arachne. Both were forged from goblin gold and set with fire opals. They were even crafted in similar styles. However, the Malfoy Arachne took on a spider shape and the woman's amulet was a moth. Transfiguration was possible, of course, but this didn't feel like the Malfoy Arachne.
The Arachne held impressive healing abilities that had aided his recovery after the war. After months of wearing the Arachne, Severus was intimately familiar with it's quiet and passive magic. The moth amulet, however, practically vibrated with life and energy. Severus could almost hear it singing to him. He didn't know what abilities it had, but the magic it contained was exponentially greater than that of the Arachne.
What troubled Severus was its physical appearance was an exact replica of his animagus form. A form only known to himself. It was a secret he had kept from even Dumbledore. He couldn't convince himself it was a coincidence but how could it be anything else?
"Is that why you wanted me here?" barked Lucius. "To get a secret thrill over stealing a precious family heirloom and parading it before my very eyes? Your transfiguration skills are to be applauded but I am not fooled."
He reached down, presumably to yank the necklace away from the woman, but flinched at the very instant of contact. Lucius groaned with pain and stared unbelievingly at his hand. In the center of his palm was a large bite.
A loud hissing sound drew both men's attention back to the amulet. The moth had transformed into a larger than life golden scorpion encrusted with fire opals. It walked with obvious agitation across the woman's chest. Its raised tail shook menacingly in Lucius's direction.
Severus snickered despite the situation he was in. "I think you pissed it off and it's clearly not the Arache."
"Well, you can't deny the similarity," Lucius said, huffing. "It must be a sister of sorts to the Arache."
"A superior sister."
Severus ignored Lucius's howl of outrage and his eyes were once again drawn to the old scars across her chest. They were partially concealed by a privacy charm that made her breasts and genitals naught but a flesh colored blur. Removing the charm would aid his examination but he felt disinclined to expose her so completely with Lucius in the room.
Severus grew frustrated as the woman's identity continued to evade him. He knew those scars so he must know her. Waking her up and questioning her was the obvious solution but he suspected she was actually in a coma-like state instead of asleep. Magic performed on pregnant witches could be unpredictable and even a simple reviving spell could have disastrous results if not performed by a qualified healer. He wasn't ready to risk it.
Instead, he pondered the how and why.
How did she get into the Phoenix Nest?
There was the Dumbledore factor. The Nest was eccentric and frustrating as its former master. Furthermore, it had a setience that rivaled Hogwarts. While it wasn't openly hostile towards Severus, it certainly didn't respect him as its master. The house still had many secrets Severus had yet to discover and there could very well be unknown enchantment that could allow admittance despite Severus's wards. He should have considered this sooner and was possiblely now paying for that foolish mistake.
The why was obvious.
That someone was out to get him wasn't paranoia but cold, hard fact. Light side or Dark, he had many enemies actively working towards his demise.
And the set up was obvious. Being found with a severely abused pregnant woman would definitely land him in Azkaban. Were Aurors lying in wait, diligently working on breaking his wards so they could swoop in and catch him red-handed?
Well, he would beat them to it.
The woman could be an unwitting victim or willing accomplice but the child inside her was definitely innocent.
And Severus was not the monster he used to be. He was not the monster the perpetrators, and public, still believed him to be.
Underneath the pleasant aromas associated with Mother's Lullaby there was a foulness that suggested disease, infection, even death. She wasn't just injured; she was deathly ill. The mother and child would not survive much longer without urgent medical care. Severus would see that they got it, even if the cost was his own freedom.
Decision made, Severus swallowed down the bile rising in his throat and turned to Lucius.
"You should leave," Severus said. "This woman needs a Healer and I'm about to firecall St. Mungo's. I doubt you want to get mixed up in this."
"Are you insane!" Lucius hissed. "They will contact the Aurors and your arse will be in Azkaban by the night's end."
Severus couldn't help but scoff. "The same Aurors you want set on me for thievery."
Lucius gasped with indignation. "How dare you imply I would be a snitch. We would have settled the matter with wands and bloodshed."
Severus grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. "St Mungo's," he called but before the connection could be made, a jet of water exquished the flames.
"Don't do this," said Lucius as he lowered his wand. "If you are so determined to get the woman help, then call your favorite arse-licking Auror first. If Harry Potter can get you off for killing the so-called greatest wizard of our time, then he can get you out of this. Whatever this is."
Severus blinked. He hadn't thought about Harry Potter because, well, he didn't like to think about Harry Potter. At all. He hated the idea of crawling to the boy for help.
"Do it, or I will," snapped Lucius. "You might be a cruel bastard at times but you wouldn't abuse a woman like that. I know it and Potter knows it."
Severus shook his head. "I don't have time to wait for Potter. She needs immediate help."
"Oh, fuck this," muttered Lucius and quickly slashed his wand through the air.
Unprepared for the sudden assault, Severus fell to the floor with a thump, magically bound and gagged.
Lucius smirked. "Fuck, Severus, your reflexes have become pathetically slow post-retirement. I didn't think it would actually work." He wagged a finger at him. "Stop glaring at me. I'm doing this for your own good. Plus, Cissy will have my bollocks if I let you indulge your disgusting Gryffindor conscious. She is unduly fond of you."
Lucius waved his wand again causing Severus to float over to one of the overly plush, lime green armchairs. "Might as well be comfortable," Lucius said "This might take awhile."
Severus could only watch with silent rage as Lucius made a few fire calls. Afterwards, he helped himself to the small mini-bar that sat in the corner. He gracefully sunk into the armchair next to Severus and took a sip of his Ogden's Best before speaking.
"I will open the floo to Vivian Inness. shortly… Yes, I called a Healer," he added at Severus's surprised look. "You'll be unbearable company if the woman dies and there's so few left of the old crowd. I'll be damned if I'm stuck socializing with the elderly dowager Rowle or that human troll Selwen.
"She needs a few minutes to collect her supplies. You will give her permission to enter or I will use the Imperius. I know you can break it in under a minute, but granting permission only takes a few seconds."
Severus grunted in protest around his gag.
"Unfortunately, Potter has the day off and was not at the Aurors's office," continued Lucius. "The Floo connection at Grimmauld Place is restricted and so I've instructed Draco to send a Patronous message. The boy wonder will undoubtedly come running to your aid."
Severus grunted again.
"Don't be difficult," chided Lucius. "You need his help. He has enough influence to shield you from the worst of this. Let him come and save the day. It's what he does best."
Severus didn't want any more help from the boy. He already owed his life and freedom to Harry Potter and his frie-
Realization struck Severus like a bolt of lightning.
Harry Potter and his friends.
And his friends.
A Ginger menace and a bushy-haired know it all.
Brown bushy hair that was currently coal black.
He now remembered those faded scars across her chest.
Oh yes, he knew them.
He knew them when they were open wounds, oozing blood and dark magic.
He had stared at them for hours, mentally cursing the entire world but especially Anton Dolohov, a reckless Gryffindor fooled by false visions, and the allegedly smartest witch of her generation who should have known better.
He had stared at them unwaveringly, carefully removing the Dark curse that made them unhealable as Madam Pomfrey chanted Vulnera Sanentur over and over until her voice went hoarse.
Hermione Granger lay in that glass case.
Lucius had just called upon Harry Potter to what? Cover up Severus's involvement in his best friend's abuse and possible death? That Severus was being framed didn't matter. He could not rely on Potter to remain calm and rational. Not with Granger involved.
And how did she get involved? Did Potter even know she was missing? Rumor had it she had left the Wizarding World to pursue a muggle education so maybe their contact was sparse.
Severus reckoned he would probably be implicated in her pregnancy as well. He had made himself irrevocably sterile with both magic and muggle means years ago. Unfortunately, that counted for nothing when the Wizarding Word had the means to create an artificial reproductive essence using a person's other bodily tissues.
He didn't know if he should laugh or cry but he knew this: he was fucked.
He was well and truly fucked.
Hope it was worth a review!