Summary:
Tired of waiting, so here is my version of the fifth Harry Potter book. This is the way I imagine things could develop.
Professor Snape has stolen something from Lord Voldemort, the only reason he is still alive. Harry will find out what it is and another confrontation with the Dark Lord will be unavoidable. Will the good guys be able to stop the Dark Lord in his never ending quest for power ?
Lots of revealed secrets, action, humor and some romance.
Rating: General to PG, maybe a bit angsty. No graphic sex scenes, although there will be references to sexual relationships between consenting adults. This must come as a big shock if you've already read some of my other stories.
Pairing: definitely Harry/Hermione, the rest would be giving away the plot …
Author's note: For those of you looking for references to the Order of the Phoenix: you won't find them! There will be meetings and increased Ministry/Auror activity, but I felt I should write my own story, it would be too freaky if any of it should appear in the actual book. (not that I think that would ever happen, although we can always dream about Snape playing a major part in book 5!)
Chapter 1: Potions Master in Distress"CRUCIO !"
The bolt of lightning struck at his abdomen. The pain was as intense as ever, starting at the point of impact, slowly spreading through his body, increasing with every heartbeat until it became almost unbearable. The tall, dark wizard cringed but would not fold, he did not want to show any signs of weakness. Not even when his intestines seemed to burn up from the inside.
The cracking laugh that kept ringing in his ear seemed to be the only appropriate soundtrack to this seemingly never ending torture.
At last his tormentor understood he wasn't getting anywhere and dropped his wand.
"Severus, you know it's just a matter of time before you tell me what I want to know. After all, you're only a man. A formidable one, I agree, but everyone has his limits. So do you, my beloved traitor."
Severus Snape looked straight into the glowing red eyes of Lord Voldemort. He gathered all the strength he had left inside him to emphasise his next words.
"I will NEVER tell you." It was almost a growl. Although severely weakened by a series of cruciatus curses, the menace in his voice was unmistaken. The way he stood there, slightly bent forward as in an attack position, his jet-black eyes scanning the room, threatening it's occupants to defy him, gave the impression he was the one in control and not the lean, transparent figure in the front.
"You have taken what was MINE !" Voldemort, infuriated by Snape's phlegmatic composure couldn't keep his cool and started another round of tortures.
Snape tried to drive all thoughts of pain from his mind, the only way to fight the continuous attacks on his nerve system. He only succeeded partially.
Voldemort cooled his fury on the defenceless body in front of him, even when Snape lost consciousness and dropped to the floor.
At long last the attacks stopped. Voldemort took a few deep breaths and seemed to come to himself again, like he had been in some kind of trance.
"Ditch him somewhere near Hogwarts. I'm sure he'll manage to get back, always does, the annoying scum."
Two masked figures bent over the motionless body and picked it up. The next moment they were gone. Only five were left. The Dark Lord stepped closer to one of them and placed his hand on the other man's shoulder in a fatherly gesture.
"Lucius, you will keep a close eye on him. Sooner or later he will make the mistake that will lead us to what is rightfully mine. Then you may bring him to me and it will be my pleasure to kill him in the most slow and painful way you can imagine."
He licked his lips in anticipation, the other ones present laughing behind their masks, the sounds coming out stifled.
Voldemort engaged in another of his high-pitched laughs, the ones that set your teeth on edge.
****
Harry Potter woke with a start, dazed by what he had witnessed in his dream. His hand went to his forehead where his scar was throbbing like mad.
For a moment he was a bit disoriented by the unfamiliar surroundings, but then he let out a reassured sigh, seeing Ron Weasley's sleeping figure on the bed next to him. He was at the Burrow and tomorrow he was going to Hogwarts to start his fifth year. Just when he was about to go back to sleep, the door went open with a thud and a vision of white and bushy brown stormed into the room.
"Harry ? Are you alright ? I thought I heard you screaming !"
Harry put on his glasses and recognised Hermione Granger. Oh, right, she was sleeping across the hall with Ginny, also waiting to return to school.
"Er, I'm sorry, I didn't realise …"
"Was it one of your scary dreams about you-know-who ?" she whispered.
"Yeah." He showed her his scar and she let out a little cry.
"Oh my God, it's so big and red ! It must have been terrible, tell me all about it."
Hermione sat down on the bed. Though it was the middle of the night, she was all pumped up and prepared to get to the bottom of Harry's latest experience with the Dark Lord.
Before Harry could start telling her about his dream, Ron yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"Ouwaah ! What's all the racket ? Is it time yet ?"
If he was surprised to see Hermione in their room, he didn't let it show, but when he looked at the clock on the wall, his mouth fell open.
"What ?! Do you know what time it is ?"
"Ron, calm down. Harry just had one of his nasty dreams, he was going to tell me all about it when you decided to join us. I must say it surprises me you didn't wake up earlier. Didn't you hear him scream ? Honestly, what if some dark wizard should come and kidnap him, you wouldn't even notice !"
"Did … did you really scream ?" Ron looked apologetic at Harry, who merely rolled his eyes.
"What … what did you see ? Did you-know-who hurt someone ?"
Harry nodded, shivering when he recalled the amount of pain that had reflected on him. It had been ten times as worse as he experienced himself earlier this year and he knew it was only a fraction of what the actual torture must have felt like to … Snape.
"It was … he was … it was Snape ! He was torturing Snape !"
Harry rocked back and forth, his arms thrown around himself for comfort. Hermione pulled him in a protective embrace.
"Oh Harry, that must have been horrible."
Ron didn't say anything. None of them liked professor Snape and that was putting it mildly, but to be tortured by the Dark Lord …
Hermione frowned. Always the intelligent one, even at three in the morning, she tried to grasp the meaning of all this.
"If you-know-who was torturing Snape, then he must know he's a spy for Dumbledore. But what I do not understand, is why he doesn't kill him. I mean, it's not like he would enjoy having a spy hang around, no ?"
"Who knows?" Ron sighed, longing to resume his interrupted sleep.
Harry jerked up.
"That's right. I almost forgot. He said he was going to kill Snape, but …er … wait a minute … Oh yes. Snape has something Voldemort wants !"
Both Hermione and Ron looked at him in shock.
"You mean, like a potion ?" Hermione asked.
"No. He stole something from him. They didn't say what it was, but it must have been really important because when he refused to say where it was, Voldemort went ballistic."
"Could it be another philosopher's stone ?" Ron remarked.
"Hm, very unlikely." Hermione thought out loud, not noticing the disgruntled look Ron shot at her. "Harry, I think you should tell Dumbledore about your dream. He believes your scar is a direct link to you-know-who and maybe he knows what they were talking about."
"You're right, he will know what to do. I'd like to tell Snuffles about it, but it's been ages since I heard from him and somehow I don't think he'll mind Snape being tortured all that much." He gave them a weak smile, indicating he was alright again.
Suddenly the presence of Hermione in their room, wearing nothing but her nightgown was very disturbing. He didn't know why, they always had moved around quite freely amongst each other, even in Gryffindor, but somehow it didn't feel right anymore. On the other hand, Ron didn't seem to have any problem with her being there, he was already comfortably lying down again.
Harry shifted a few inches away from her, pulling up the covers.
"Well, I'll let you two get some more sleep. After all, we don't want to miss our train, do we ?" Hermione stated and left the room.
Harry tried very hard to go back to sleep, but was unsuccessful. Images from his dream kept haunting him and part of him was afraid of what he was going to see if he closed his eyes. He was really glad to go back to Hogwarts. Headmaster Dumbledore would surely know what to do and after this night's events, he would be more than happy to have Snape's usual gloomy stare glare over him tomorrow at the banquet.
