Author's note: Rated R for a reason. This chapter deals with unpleasant
Death Eater activities regarding a child brought in to torment Snape. While
it is not graphically violent, by any means, it is unsettling. It was
difficult to write. If you wish to skip it, you may. The first paragraph of
the next chapter will give you enough information to easily continue with
the story without feeling you have missed anything.
**********
Snape apparated just outside Malfoy Manor with a pop. Not seeing anyone lingering outside, he moved up the massive stone steps to the front door. Soon a frightened-looking House Elf was removing his winter cloak and ushering him silently into the green and polished silver of the overdone ballroom.
'The ballroom?' mused Snape, breathing easy for the first time in days as the Mark calmed. 'It can't be too bad if it's in the ballroom instead of the dungeons.'
He couldn't have been more wrong.
Snape's progress halted at the gilded doorway in horror. A large, dirty mattress was placed on the center of the dance floor, minus the comfort of any bedding. In the center of it was a Muggle girl of no more than eight or nine, he thought. She had light brown, curly hair and dark brown eyes and it was obvious she had been chosen specifically to torment Snape - as she looked like a young Hermione.
He looked around the room at the gathered Death Eaters who were all leering at the frightened child and looming over her menacingly. Snape shivered in disgust and forgot all about gathering names of the dark wizards present. His only goal now was to find a way to protect that little girl. His mind whirled as more Death Eaters appeared in the room, some slapping him on the back and welcoming him back into their ranks, some going so far as to congratulate him on Voldemort's death and promising they would now be able to finish Salazar Slytherin's mighty task. Snape grimly smiled and attempted to appropriately respond; while he formulated a plan and fought to keep his dinner down.
Through it all, Snape never took his eyes off the little girl. Finally, she noticed his intense gaze and looked at him. He carefully nodded to her and put his heart and intentions in his eyes. She looked cautiously relieved for a brief moment before McNair stepped up to the mattress and began undressing her with his wand. She locked eyes again with Snape and both began to panic. Snape instinctively reached for his wand and started to advance on the group --
Suddenly, Snape clattered to the floor and realized he was staring at the rather ornate ceiling of Lucius' ballroom. Ostentatious, his bewildered mind processed, then: 'Why the hell am I on the floor?' quickly followed.
Lucius Malfoy's face appeared above him, grinning madly.
"No, no, no, Severus!" he taunted, wagging a finger in his face. "We don't save the Muggles. We're Death Eaters, remember. Like it or not, you are one of us."
The assembled group laughed and assisted Malfoy as he propped Snape's stiffened body against a column at the foot of the mattress.
"I think, old man, that you have spent too much time with your mudblood wife and mudblood-loving friends," Malfoy continued. "I see that we need to retrain you, to show you what Muggles and mudbloods are good for."
Malfoy gestured at the mattress where the terrified girl now lay shivering. He smiled at her wickedly.
"Did you think this kind man was going to save you, love?" he hissed in her ear. "So sorry to get your hopes up, you see, he was brought here to watch, not participate."
And with a casual gesture to the assembled men - monsters, Snape thought - Malfoy turned his Death Eaters loose on the child. Trapped in his frozen body and frantic mind, Snape watched as the young girl was taunted and tormented before finally being raped. Unable to avert his gaze and unable to control the emotions of sorrow, helplessness and rage, Snape ignored the tears streaming from his eyes and mucous from his nose as the girl stared at him in horror and pain. Realizing that he had become her port in the storm, a point of sanity in the horror, he put every ounce of love he ever felt for Hermione and their child into his eyes for the nameless girl and thus communicated his apologies to her.
As the Death Eaters moved from assault to murder, Snape watched as her eyes went from pained, to glazed, and finally, mercifully, to blank. He gagged on his own vomit as his "dark brothers," smeared with her blood, moved to the bar area and began throwing back shots - laughing and discussing their activities as if it had been nothing more harmless than a pick-up Quidditch match.
Soon, Lucius came back over to Snape, waving his wand and muttering to release the hex.
"Petrificus Totalis," he said, smirking. "Handy hex, that."
Released, Snape fell to the floor and retched violently. After his stomach stopped fighting him, he wiped his mouth on his robes and stood defiantly.
"I never took part in activities like that before, Malfoy," he spat. "What makes you think, with a *daughter* on the way, that I would appreciate them now? You bastard!"
"Of course, our gallant, noble Professor Snape!" Malfoy sing-songed, as he circled the still shaking man. "Recipient of the Order of Merlin, one of Dumbledore's pets, lover and father of mudbloods. What's the matter, did you picture your darling wife and daughter on that mattress, Severus?"
Snape roared and launched himself at Malfoy, slamming him against a wall and jamming a forearm across his throat.
"Never speak of my wife or our child ever again, Malfoy," he said. "I will kill you next time, don't doubt it."
Malfoy just smiled innocently at Snape and looked beyond his shoulder. Snape turned to see the Death Eaters surrounding him and their leader - wands at the ready. He reluctantly released Malfoy, taking a slight amount of pleasure in the fact that their brief battle had left vomit and blood smeared on one of Malfoy's expensive-looking murals. Lucius straightened his robes and looked at Snape with venom in his eyes.
"Tonight should be a lesson to you, Snape," he said. "You are one of us and will always be one of us. I will expect you to reclaim your position in our circle and again begin producing the potions and poisons we need. If you do not, you may be called to a meeting where your little mudblood girls are the sole entertainment."
"Although, next time please remind me to host such an engagement in the dungeons," he said, smirking and wiping vomit and blood from his hands. "It appears you do not have the stomach for this as you used to."
Snape continued to hold his tongue and simply glared at the blond man.
"Now get out of my sight, Snape. Go back to your mudblood wife and cry," Malfoy roughly shoved Snape towards the ballroom door, causing him to stumble. The Death Eaters laughed. "And make sure you arrive at our next meeting in a timely manner."
Snape fought to not run from the room and the sight of the little girl lying broken on the mattress. After apparating outside of Hogwarts gates, he broke into a dead run that only ended when he burst into the potions classroom. His friends stood, looking at his filthy, bloody and disheveled state with horror on their faces. He only had eyes for one person, however, and stumbled to Hermione and into her arms.
"She looked like you," was all he could stammer. "Hermione, she looked like you."
**********
Snape apparated just outside Malfoy Manor with a pop. Not seeing anyone lingering outside, he moved up the massive stone steps to the front door. Soon a frightened-looking House Elf was removing his winter cloak and ushering him silently into the green and polished silver of the overdone ballroom.
'The ballroom?' mused Snape, breathing easy for the first time in days as the Mark calmed. 'It can't be too bad if it's in the ballroom instead of the dungeons.'
He couldn't have been more wrong.
Snape's progress halted at the gilded doorway in horror. A large, dirty mattress was placed on the center of the dance floor, minus the comfort of any bedding. In the center of it was a Muggle girl of no more than eight or nine, he thought. She had light brown, curly hair and dark brown eyes and it was obvious she had been chosen specifically to torment Snape - as she looked like a young Hermione.
He looked around the room at the gathered Death Eaters who were all leering at the frightened child and looming over her menacingly. Snape shivered in disgust and forgot all about gathering names of the dark wizards present. His only goal now was to find a way to protect that little girl. His mind whirled as more Death Eaters appeared in the room, some slapping him on the back and welcoming him back into their ranks, some going so far as to congratulate him on Voldemort's death and promising they would now be able to finish Salazar Slytherin's mighty task. Snape grimly smiled and attempted to appropriately respond; while he formulated a plan and fought to keep his dinner down.
Through it all, Snape never took his eyes off the little girl. Finally, she noticed his intense gaze and looked at him. He carefully nodded to her and put his heart and intentions in his eyes. She looked cautiously relieved for a brief moment before McNair stepped up to the mattress and began undressing her with his wand. She locked eyes again with Snape and both began to panic. Snape instinctively reached for his wand and started to advance on the group --
Suddenly, Snape clattered to the floor and realized he was staring at the rather ornate ceiling of Lucius' ballroom. Ostentatious, his bewildered mind processed, then: 'Why the hell am I on the floor?' quickly followed.
Lucius Malfoy's face appeared above him, grinning madly.
"No, no, no, Severus!" he taunted, wagging a finger in his face. "We don't save the Muggles. We're Death Eaters, remember. Like it or not, you are one of us."
The assembled group laughed and assisted Malfoy as he propped Snape's stiffened body against a column at the foot of the mattress.
"I think, old man, that you have spent too much time with your mudblood wife and mudblood-loving friends," Malfoy continued. "I see that we need to retrain you, to show you what Muggles and mudbloods are good for."
Malfoy gestured at the mattress where the terrified girl now lay shivering. He smiled at her wickedly.
"Did you think this kind man was going to save you, love?" he hissed in her ear. "So sorry to get your hopes up, you see, he was brought here to watch, not participate."
And with a casual gesture to the assembled men - monsters, Snape thought - Malfoy turned his Death Eaters loose on the child. Trapped in his frozen body and frantic mind, Snape watched as the young girl was taunted and tormented before finally being raped. Unable to avert his gaze and unable to control the emotions of sorrow, helplessness and rage, Snape ignored the tears streaming from his eyes and mucous from his nose as the girl stared at him in horror and pain. Realizing that he had become her port in the storm, a point of sanity in the horror, he put every ounce of love he ever felt for Hermione and their child into his eyes for the nameless girl and thus communicated his apologies to her.
As the Death Eaters moved from assault to murder, Snape watched as her eyes went from pained, to glazed, and finally, mercifully, to blank. He gagged on his own vomit as his "dark brothers," smeared with her blood, moved to the bar area and began throwing back shots - laughing and discussing their activities as if it had been nothing more harmless than a pick-up Quidditch match.
Soon, Lucius came back over to Snape, waving his wand and muttering to release the hex.
"Petrificus Totalis," he said, smirking. "Handy hex, that."
Released, Snape fell to the floor and retched violently. After his stomach stopped fighting him, he wiped his mouth on his robes and stood defiantly.
"I never took part in activities like that before, Malfoy," he spat. "What makes you think, with a *daughter* on the way, that I would appreciate them now? You bastard!"
"Of course, our gallant, noble Professor Snape!" Malfoy sing-songed, as he circled the still shaking man. "Recipient of the Order of Merlin, one of Dumbledore's pets, lover and father of mudbloods. What's the matter, did you picture your darling wife and daughter on that mattress, Severus?"
Snape roared and launched himself at Malfoy, slamming him against a wall and jamming a forearm across his throat.
"Never speak of my wife or our child ever again, Malfoy," he said. "I will kill you next time, don't doubt it."
Malfoy just smiled innocently at Snape and looked beyond his shoulder. Snape turned to see the Death Eaters surrounding him and their leader - wands at the ready. He reluctantly released Malfoy, taking a slight amount of pleasure in the fact that their brief battle had left vomit and blood smeared on one of Malfoy's expensive-looking murals. Lucius straightened his robes and looked at Snape with venom in his eyes.
"Tonight should be a lesson to you, Snape," he said. "You are one of us and will always be one of us. I will expect you to reclaim your position in our circle and again begin producing the potions and poisons we need. If you do not, you may be called to a meeting where your little mudblood girls are the sole entertainment."
"Although, next time please remind me to host such an engagement in the dungeons," he said, smirking and wiping vomit and blood from his hands. "It appears you do not have the stomach for this as you used to."
Snape continued to hold his tongue and simply glared at the blond man.
"Now get out of my sight, Snape. Go back to your mudblood wife and cry," Malfoy roughly shoved Snape towards the ballroom door, causing him to stumble. The Death Eaters laughed. "And make sure you arrive at our next meeting in a timely manner."
Snape fought to not run from the room and the sight of the little girl lying broken on the mattress. After apparating outside of Hogwarts gates, he broke into a dead run that only ended when he burst into the potions classroom. His friends stood, looking at his filthy, bloody and disheveled state with horror on their faces. He only had eyes for one person, however, and stumbled to Hermione and into her arms.
"She looked like you," was all he could stammer. "Hermione, she looked like you."