Contract Binding: Chapter Six
By RowanRhys
Severus Snape's headache had grown to monumental proportions, and so, he suspected, had his broken nose. He'd lost track of time, his internal clock disrupted by both stress and the environment in which he found himself. The bare, windowless cell gave no clues as to how long he'd been incarcerated--adding to the aggravation of being unable to get his side of the story told.
Of course, he'd not really expected them to take him as anything other than his carefully built reputation had projected. The looming, black-garbed image he'd cultivated over the years of his double life was what protected him from Voldemort's ire and a probable Aveda Kedavra curse, but continued, as always, to disrupt his daily life.
And that Will... He wished that he could summon the shade of Andrew Carlyle-Fairleighweather and force out of him just why the old man had made such a stupid decision in setting up the inheritance. Why William Nott, of all people? How had the stooped Deatheater come to be selected? How had old Lord Andrew even known the Ministry bureaucrat? He certainly wasn't related to either Marian or himself. While not obsessed with family lines, he knew his geneology well enough to know that there were no marriage or blood ties to the Nott family.
The sound of the door being unlocked disturbed his aggravated musings and he opened his eyes to glare blackly at the MLE officer who filled the portal when the door was pulled open. Officer Malcolm looked back at him, a trace of disappointment quickly masked in his eyes. "Come with me."
Severus rose to his feet with slow dignity in order to disguise the slight dizziness that swept over him. Might be a bit of concussion on top of the rest of it, he thought as he stepped out into the corridor. He expected to be jerked into another binding charm, but the burly wizard just gestured toward a door at the end of the hallway. It opened at his approach and he emerged into the main squadroom of the Diagon Alley station.
He swept the room with a glance, his gaze ending up on Officer Langtry, who looked nearly as angry as he felt. The witch reached into her robes and he tensed as she pointed her wand at him.
"Restoro Vox!"
There was a faint tingling in his larynx and as he exhaled softly, he could hear the faint sigh of the air making his vocal cords vibrate once more. Before Snape could actually say anything, Malcolm had moved up beside him and indicated another door that appeared to lead into a small conference room. The Potionsmaster strode into the Spartan chamber and came face to face with Inspector Brewer, who appeared rather discomfited. Langtry stepped around Snape to stand just behind and to the right of her boss.
"So, is this where I'm expected to confess to every heinous action performed in the neighborhood over the last three weeks?" Severus sneered, folding his arms across his chest.
Brewer glowered for a moment. "It appears that we owe you an apology, Professor Snape." He looked as if the words were being dragged from him. "You must understand that the circumstantial evidence--"
"I understand only that I was assumed to be guilty before the situation was fully evaluated and was forcibly prevented from making any statements in regards to my actions." He turned his icy stare onto Langtry for a long moment. "Furthermore, your team's--enthusiasm--for jumping to conclusions caused my cousin significantly more distress than she would have otherwise faced, since he," he jerked his head toward Malcolm, "smashed the only bottle of healing potion that I had with me. Speaking of potions, I expect to receive all of my possessions back, intact."
The door opened behind him and he glanced over his shoulder to see the third team member enter the room, bearing a clear bag full of small glass vials, and an ebony-shafted wand.
Brewer cleared his throat as the items were laid on the table. Garrity left the room once more. "I'd like you to make a statement about what happened this evening. Please, Professor, sit down. I want to get you out of here as quickly as possible."
"I wouldn't doubt that for an instant," Snape snarled, "Then, make it fast. I want to get to St. Mungo's to check on my cousin."
Langtry muttered something under her breath and he nailed her with another glare, "What was that Miss Langtry?" His voice was the cold snap of the Potions Professor that she remembered from her last few years at Hogwarts and she started for a moment before sneering back at him.
"I said that perhaps you should look at getting admitted yourself."
Before Snape could respond to her insulting remark, Brewer cleared his throat again. "May we proceed?"
The Dict-a-Quill rushed along the parchment as Severus described his actions of the day. "I completed part of my business with the solicitor--Markham-Peters--and since he said he needed me to return in the morning, I indulged myself in some shopping along the Alley. When I finally got to Ollivander's, I found my cousin, Miss Carlyle-Tintagel, purchasing a new wand. She didn't want to speak with me and preceded me from the shop, while Ollivander held me back with a question. By the time I got outside, she was about two blocks ahead of me. She was accosted near the mouth of Knockturn Alley--one man distracted her while the other two hit her with spells. Stupefy and a Body Bind, I'd suppose.
"I ran up to the mouth of the Alley and found they'd not taken her far in. I Stupefied all three of them, but I wasn't fast enough to keep her from being cut. I was trying to get the bleeding stopped when your wonder Trio here showed up. They said to stop what I was doing as I was trying to open the Healing Potion while keeping a light on the scene and pressure on the wound. I asked them where they were five minutes before, then he," Snape nodded towards Malcolm, "Cast an Expellarimus on me and smashed the Healing Potion along with taking away my wand. The next thing I know is that I'm slammed up against a wall with a broken nose in a full body bind. Then she cast a Nullus vox on me when I demanded to know to where my cousin had been Apparated. I was frisked and my possessions taken from me, then Apparated to this place where I've spent the last several hours in a cell with no offered first aid and the Nullus vox spell still in effect so I couldn't even ask for attention." He glared at the three MLE personnel before continuing. "Suddenly I'm let out, my voice returned to me and told it was a mistake. What finally gave you that idea?"
Before he could go further into one of his trademark, cutting rants, he heard the door open and turned to see who had entered the room.
"Because I told them you had nothing to do with it," Marian said, moving to stand next to his chair.
TBC