I still don't own any of the good stuff. And by good stuff I mean Snape. *prowr*
again, thanks to Sublime for being so great, providing wonderful mood music to write to. Big thanks to everyone who reviewed, but I want more! It's hard to write a good story if no one sends feedback!
Chapter 5
The next few months passed with the regularity of clockwork, as time most often tends to pass. Fall brought with it a wet Quidditch season, but Viola Rienne would not be playing this year. Her failure to make the Slytherin team had disheartened her, but she got over it quickly with the aid of Brandon and her friends, who's wonderful solutions were mostly a very vehement 'screw Quidditch!' She was never one for sour grapes, but it made her laugh all the same.
Viola and Brandon had gotten close since their first 'date' in Hogsmeade, much to the discomfort of Viola. She felt a lot for Brandon, but it was more of a friendly sort of feeling. When it came to touching him, or kissing him, she knew that she would ever feel for him the way he felt for her.
After a while Brandon began to call her his girlfriend, they ate together and he held her hand on the way to their classes. Viola even had him smoking pot with her friends behind the greenhouses on more than one occasion. When they just acted like friends, she was comfortable with him, but when he tried to get closer, she felt repelled. Sometimes she had to force herself to kiss him goodnight.
Brandon could be a little frightening at times. She had only seen him angry twice, and both times weren't directed at her so was able to get over it without much deliberation. Once and a while though, she wondered what he would do if they ever had a fight. Would he get mad and throw things? The thought bothered her, and she avoided it when ever possible.
Besides, there was no reason for them to ever have a fight. They got along great. Once and a while she thought about telling him the truth, that she had no romantic feelings for him whatsoever, but every time she opened her mouth to admit it, she remembered how angry he could get. What would he do if they broke up?
Sometimes she would have nightmares, and she would see him standing in front of her with blood on his mouth and chin, or in the common room in a rage after receiving a letter from home, informing him that his father was being questioned for being a Death Eater.
She found herself getting taken deeper and deeper into a relationship she didn't want to be in, and it scared her.
To make everything worse, things were going wrong in the wizarding world as well. The Dark Lord was getting stronger. The death of Cornelius Fudge triggered a very strong reaction in the Ministry, and repercussions were twice as severe for anyone caught doing anything that might be linked to the Death Eaters. As predicted, the ministry wanted Dumbledore to fill in the position of Minister, but he declined, explaining that he couldn't leave the school in this time of risk.
The position of power was left open for a while, but was quickly filled by a very aspiring and hopeful Arthur Weasley. Viola read the story in the Daily Prophet, and thought he looked rather nervous in the picture. Understandable, of course, since the last minister had been burnt to a crisp.
Arthur's promotion was a good sign to Dumbledore's cause, the Phoenixes, a group of aurors and those who opposed the Dark Lord and his crusade. While Fudge had stayed neutral in political status, Arthur would take action. She showed the article to Brandon, and he got angry again.
For some reason that she didn't understand, Brandon seemed to hate that Mr Weasley was minister of magic. Along with quite a lot of the other Slytherins as well, he seemed to think it should have gone to someone else. Viola thought it was a good thing, but was afraid to say anything with him in such a rage about it.
She had sat in the common room by the fire, watching him pace around, throwing the newspaper into the fire violently, his face contorted in fury. She marvelled at how he could look like an angel one minute, with his soft features and shining hair, and then be transformed into a vulgar titan the next. The younger students had fled the room, leaving them alone. He cursed and fumed, red in the face and his hands shaking furiously.
It took all her will power not to just run the hell out of there, to get away from him. She stayed, rooted to the armchair, her eyes following him around the room. His anger wore itself out, eventually, and he began to look normal again. She breathed a silent sigh of relief, relaxing in her chair. Her knuckles were numb, and she realized that she had been clenching the armrests of her chair so hard a few of her nails were broken.
Back to normal again, he sat down on the floor by her chair, resting his head against her knee. Her hand moved to gently stroke his hair, her fingers entwined in the honey locks. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling. He seemed calm now, and Viola tried not to think about his outburst.
"Sorry Vi." he apologized.
"That's okay." she said quietly, reassuring him. The remembered image of him with blood on his mouth flashed briefly in front of her, but she shoved it out of the way, along with all the other things he had done that had unnerved her. The good times with Brandon far outweighed the bad, and she resolved to stick with him. He was, after all, a good friend, and the thought of his rage turned on her was enough to keep her awake at night.
"I'm sorry if I freaked you out." he said simply, not sounding really sorry at all. He looked a little distraught still, and he pulled a little baggy out of his pocket with shaking hands, mumbling about how he needed something to make him relax. At his third attempt to roll a joint, Viola finally took it from him and finished it in a few seconds. He smiled sheepishly at her, and he held her hand on their way outside.
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Time flashed by in a blur of classes and snowstorms, and before long Snape was making his way around the common room, taking the names of those who would be staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays.
Viola was working on her divination assignment, a twelve page essay on the history of the Tarot, when someone's hand descended onto the page of her book, pulling it down. She found herself looking into Snape's fierce black eyes.
"Will you be going home for Christmas, Miss Rienne?" he asked her impatiently, his tone suggesting that he had been repeating himself to get her attention.
"Oh, yes, sir." she mumbled, a faint smile hovering on her lips. She could feel herself blushing and it annoyed her slightly. He left without another word to her, and she returned to her essay. Viola felt a bit bad for the two Slytherins who would be staying. She hated the idea of not being with family over the holidays.
Brandon came out of his dormitory then, rushing up to her and kissing her sweetly on the mouth. He pulled her up from her chair and sat himself down in it, pulling her onto his lap where they sat close together, making Viola incredibly uncomfortable.
"I'm gonna miss you over Christmas, Vi." he spoke into her neck, nuzzling her soft skin, inhaling her delicate scent. She shuddered, but snuggled closer to him in the wide chair and got back to writing, trying to ignore his presence behind her.
She had been looking forward quite a bit to her holiday from him, but of course she couldn't say that. "It's only two weeks, you'll survive without me." she smiled, watching Snape out of the corner of her eye. He hardly ever ventured into their common room, but she liked it when he did. He had a sort of paternal air about him around his students, and it made him seem a bit more approachable. It was easy to notice that no matter how evil he was to the rest of the school, he did care about the Slytherins.
"But what if I don't?" Brandon's playful inquiry caught her off guard. "What if I die on the way to my house or something?"
"I'd scream and cry and break things." she answered quickly. She twisted in his lap and kissed him, ignoring the envious looks from the Slytherin girls, and ignoring the twisting feeling in her stomach. He kissed her deeper, sliding his tongue past her lips and sealing her mouth with his own. She turned further to straddle his hips, her hands clasped on the back of his neck. She knew what he liked, and had learned to play her part pretty well. He used the distraction to grab her textbook and close it on her, delighting in the cutely annoyed look she gave him.
"This essay isn't due until after the holidays! Why the hell are you doing it now?" he demanded in shock. "Gods Viola, you take school too seriously!"
She punched him playfully, wishing she didn't have to.
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Snape left the common room quickly after he had finished his business, beating a hasty path to the headmaster's office.
"Ten points from Ravenclaw!" he growled at a second year of that house who nearly collided with him coming around a corner on the third floor.
Albus Dumbledore heaved his office door open before Snape had a chance to knock. The older man stepped politely aside and gestured for him to enter and take a seat, the blue eyes sparkled lightheartedly, but he wore a frown on his grizzled face.
"I'm not too happy about your plans, Severus." he admitted, sitting behind his desk.
Snape shrugged. "I have to do this. I won't . . . contribute anything, but I have to be there." He looked around the office, his black eyes finally falling on Fawkes, who was giving him a dirty look.
"Are they starting to suspect you?" Dumbledore asked. "Because if they are, I'm getting you out."
"You can't just get me out." Severus smiled a cynical, unpleasant sort of smile.
"Out of the country then." Dumbledore corrected himself. "They won't find you if you let me hide you."
"They will have no reason to suspect me if I go."
Dumbledore though for a moment, selecting another problem to bring up. "You will be wandless, unable to defend yourself if anything should happen."
"Depressingly so, yes. None of us will have wands." he answered back hesitantly. "I'm still going."
"When will you be back then?" Dumbledore gave up on trying to talk him out of it. Severus could be so annoyingly headstrong at times.
"It should only take a few days." Snape reassured him, shuddering inwardly at the thought of a few days with Death Eaters and Voldemort. "I'll be back on Christmas eve." if I live, he added silently to himself. In truth, they were starting to suspect him, which was why he had to go to this rally.
It wasn't even a normal rally. It was more of an assemblage for European followers of the Dark Lord. People from all over the continent were coming up to the Riddle Mansion for three days. They were to all surrender their wands temporarily to an anonymous disciple, as a sign of their devotion and absolute trust in their master. It was probably going to be one long, painful sort of party. The festivities would be brutal, and no doubt some of the less dedicated followers would be systematically weeded out of the ranks.
"Are you going to be able to last three days with them?" the old man asked quietly, trying to hide his obvious implications from Severus.
"How so?" He didn't miss a trick. He knew exactly what Dumbledore was talking about, because he had been wondering about it himself.
"Three days is all it takes to get you back. That's all it took in the first place to get you to join them." Dumbledore thought there was no point in working his way around the issue, it was a very important one.
Snape's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he stood up as if to leave. "How can you possibly think that?" he said quietly, through gritted teeth.
"I meant - " Dumbledore started to explain, but was cut off.
"I know exactly what you meant." His voice was like ice, his eyes hard and cutting as diamonds. He turned to leave, pausing at the door only to say one more thing.
"I know exactly where my loyalties lie. I will be back on Christmas eve."
He left then in a sweep of black robes, angrily treading down the hallway, too enraged to take points from a student that was running in the opposite direction. He was delayed shortly in the dungeons, where he had to pack a few things into an army style duffel bag, but he was soon gone, aparated to the Riddle House in Little Hangleton.
Others were arriving all around him, looking up at the rambling old house with trepidation in their eyes. He handed his wand to a wizard who approached him, without looking at the man's face. The man, who was Peter Pettigrew, went around to all the others who had just arrived, disarming them similarly.
The house was magnificent, if a bit decrepit. With dark windows and the roof covered in snow, it looked haunted.
Despite the fact that he knew better, Snape had a terrible, nagging feeling that the others had an advantage over him somehow. In reality, though, no one had the advantage in this game, that would continue for the next three nefarious days. Only Voldemort himself had any such superiority, as he held all the wild cards in this game.
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Viola shared a compartment with Randy, Gwendolen and Brianna on the Hogwarts Express the next day. Thankful to be rid of Brandon early, she had cheered inside when his father showed up at the school to pick him up personally a day early.
Brianna was asleep, her head resting in Randy's lap. He idly braided her hair while Gwen instructed him on how to do it, and Viola just stared out the window quietly. The snow was falling, fluffy and light, swirling around in the slipstream of the steam engine. The passing landscape was beautiful, and she was almost afraid to blink, in case she missed any of it.
The day passed quickly, and soon the train was screeching to a halt in King's Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4. Viola shook Randy awake, who had fallen asleep in her lap some hours earlier. At his movement, Brianna woke up, feeling the tangle of braids in her hair and groaning.
They all hugged each other tightly, planting Christmas kisses on each other's cheeks. Gwendolen's mother was waiting for her on the platform, and Brianna's father was standing with her, waving his daughter over.
Viola and Randy's parents could not come onto the platform, being muggles. The two friends held hands and pushed through the barrier, into the muggle version of the train station.
"Hey you guys!" Randy's father called from a few yards away. Viola brightened immediately at the sight of her friend's parents.
Randy had what many people would call, 'cool parents'. They were basically a couple of old hippies, reeking of pot and always cheerful.
"Viola, sweetheart! Your parents asked us to give you a ride home." Viola found herself wrapped up in a very loving hug from Randy's mother.
"Thanks Mae," she hugged the older woman just as tight. The four of them walked towards their car, an old, rough model of something that must have been very good once.
Back at the apartment building, Viola and Randy separated into their individual homes to spend some quality time with their separate families.
"Mummy, dad?" She called as she entered her home. It was exactly how she always remembered it. Small, slightly drafty, since they had always been rather poor, and blue. Her mother had a thing for that colour, and insisted on furnishing every room with it.
"Hey honey!" and then more hugs went around. The feeling of Christmas was a tangible thing in her home, the red and green decorations clashing with the predominant blue, but the aura was there. The tree took up most of the cramped living room, and already presents were spilling out from underneath it.
Randy's family came by later in the evening, and they all sat around in the living room. It was crowded, so Viola and Randy had to share an armchair, while the parents sat on the couch and Viola's younger brother Darcy had to sit on the floor.
Darcy was fourteen now, and had never received a letter for Hogwarts like his sister had. It seemed like she was the only one in her entire family to ever achieve magical ability, but Darcy never seemed to mind. The two siblings got along, but he always got a bit nervous whenever she would talk to him about school or magic.
"It's so nice to have you kids home from school," Viola's mother said, a glass of wine in her elegant hand. Viola shot her mother a reproachful look, and she fell silent.
Her mother, Felicia, had never shared Viola's enthusiasm for learning magic, and usually treated the subject with scorn or sarcasm. Her father had voiced his disapproval when she got her letter, but had kept his displeasure quiet since that time, not wanting to influence her decision making with his own opinion.
She often wished that she had been born to Randy's parents. She felt much closer to Mae and Red than she did to her own parents, they were much more open minded and respectable.
"So what are you kids learning this year?" the gruff voice of Red broke the silence. With his large beard and rotund physique, he vaguely resembled a leather-clad Father Christmas at a biker rally. He had no disposition against magic, and had encouraged Randy and Viola to go to the school when they were eleven.
Randy was about to answer, but Felicia interrupted him.
"We don't need to hear about school." she said shortly, a steely glint in her eyes. Viola felt Randy flinch beside her, and she squeezed his hand reassuringly.
Christmas wasn't going to be very fun.
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Snape's breath was ragged, tearing from his throat in muted, feral moans. It was the middle of the night and the room was dark, so black he couldn't see the face of the woman on top of him. It didn't matter, though, he wasn't interested in her face.
Dumbledore had been right. There was something about the presence of the Dark Lord and his followers that had a way of rearranging your priorities. He had barely been at the house a day, and already he had descended so far into his old self he was afraid he wouldn't be able to claw his way out.
His anonymous lover reached her climax, tightening around his erection until he came as well, gripping her hips tightly and thrusting into her as hard as he could, drinking in her screams like they could give him life.
Her body went limp, and she slumped over his bare chest, breathing hard. As he caught his own breath, he noticed a small red glow about ten feet away, glowing brighter every second or so. Someone was puffing on a cigarette. He supposed that they had been watching, or, given the relative darkness, listening. He didn't care, just lit his own cigarette and twirled the woman's hair lazily around his long fingers.
While he smoked, he tried to sort out his thoughts. He wasn't sure if he could last the remainder of te three days, but he knew that if he didn't he was dead. If he changed allegiances again, Dumbledore would know. He wouldn't show mercy this time, Severus knew. Besides, he knew the cost of infidelity only too well.
He was a spy. Not a Death Eater. Not any more. He tried to get away, back into the place in him mind where there was no thought. He tried so hard to recede, so he wouldn't have to think about what he was doing, or what he was going to do. It was impossible though.
Deep down, he knew what he really believed in. He hated Voldemort. Hated his cause. He couldn't afford to lose himself in the allure, the raw seduction of the Dark Side, because he would not survive another shift in devotion. He truly did believe that Voldemort needed to be stopped, and he wanted to help make it happen.
Right now though, he was lost.
He finished his cigarette, a sick thought coming to mind. He ashed the butt of the filter on the small of the woman's back, gasping as she bit his chest in pain, but then pleasure. She arched into him, her hand drifting down to grip his manhood, already aroused.
"Again, lover?" she purred in her husky, magnetic articulation. He flipped her onto her back so that he was hovering over top of her, tilting her head back to kiss her throat roughly.
He felt an urgent hand on his shoulder. The hand belonged to whomever had been watching before. Snape grinned savagely to himself. What the hell . . .
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Hehe . . . Snape's gonna have a threesome! I wonder if the third is a man or woman . . . oh well, fill in the blanks. I'm having so many ideas right now, it might take a couple more chapters for the actual Sev/Viola thing to start. So many little plots going through my head . . . .the next chapter will be good, I feel bad for Viola.
By the way, the series is tied with the Leafs and Islanders, and if the Leafs lose I am gonna cry. Really, honestly break down and sob. They lose way too much . . . if they keep it up, I swear I'll change allegiances. I'll become a Montreal fan, I swear! Don't think I won't! Lol . . None of you guys probably care about the Stanley Cup, but it's a big part of my Canadian Heritage..
Go leafs! And review!