Severus nodded at Pansy and Lavender as he watched them enter the hall. With those two arriving, it meant that soon Harry and Draco would be entering as well. Then he could keep his eye on Draco. Then Blaise and Ron entered and he, once again, nodded at the two of them. He smiled at himself, as he should have expected Draco to arrive after everyone else so he could capture the most amount of attention as possible, like always.
From the pictures Harry had shown him, Severus was actually a bit excited to see what his godson would look like in a muggle suit.
But it never came.
Severus' eyebrows furrowed when another couple entered the room. At first he told himself not to panic. Draco probably thought it would be best if he let all the other couples enter before him. Severus didn't worry. Not until Blaise, Ron, Pansy, and Lavender had turned around and left the hall.
Severus followed the four out of the hall and the five of them stood there stunned.
Nothing. No one. Neither Draco nor Harry could be seen.
"Okay, don't panic," said Pansy. "They probably just went to the bathroom or something, and will be back in just a bit." But, unfortunately, her voice was enough to take the belief out of her words.
Severus stepped in. "Alright, everyone split up and look for them. If they are shagging, I promise they will get detention for my worries."
The four nodded and went their separate ways.
After around half an hour of searching, none of them had found anything.
They looked at one another for an answer, and as if it was just in time, Severus' arm started burning. He pulled up his sleeve, and there it was. The dark mark, glowing like it had never glowed before.
"You don't think..." began Ron, but was interrupted by Hermione, Dean, and Seamus leaving the hall.
The three looked around, but did not spot the five as they slipped away silently.
The four of them had their eyes wide as they saw this. They watched as Severus narrowed his eyebrows and waited, so they just waited.
Finally, "You four stay here, and don't you dare move," commanded Severus, but immediately Lavender and Ron protested. He sighed. "Just like bloody Gryffindors, to act brave at the worst time."
With a wave of his wand, Severus had all five of them covered with dark black, hooded robes, and with another wave, all five of them were apparated into a dark hallway.
Blaise turned around, and found a door behind them. Taking a deep breath, they all braced themselves before entering the room ready to attack but instead found a dimly lit room, filled with mist. None of the five dared to be too loud for fear of being discovered. Moving through the mist slowly and hoping that their entrance had not been too boisterous to have been heard by whoever was in the room, they braced themselves for something to jump out at them.
"Well; traitor indeed," spoke a voice through the thick mist.
They heard a tap sound, and the mist dissipated, leaving the five caught in the act of sneaking. Severus looked up at the Dark Lord, and a tremor slid through his body in a shiver which he hid quite well.
"Severus Snape, you have known about Potter and young Malfoy all this time, and have neglected to mention such a discovery to me."
The faux Death Eater said nothing. It was the best response he could think of.
"Did you not know that you would be caught sooner or later, Severus? I mean, I have spies everywhere you could possibly imagine."
Again, there was no response.
"You know, Severus, there was a spy among your group the entire time," spoke the Dark Lord menacingly.
The feared wizard had a slight curve to the side of his lip as one of the four he had entered the hall with stepped forward.
The hood was removed to reveal Lavender Brown. The Gryffindor no one would have suspected. The one who protested about leaving Harry on his own, whilst secretly she had been wanting to come to her Lord.
"Lav," gasped out Pansy in surprise
The only response from the traitor was a smirk, as her eyes dropped a little.
"Brown, here, was able to give me Potter, young Malfoy, and you. Very prize worthy and for which she shall be rewarded."
Voldemort waved his hand, and Severus, Ron, Blaise, and Pansy were thrown to the wall, and bound.
"On to other news, I must brag about the happenings if I may." said Voldemort as he stepped away form the fireplace he had been standing beside to reveal a bound Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.
"With the help of Brown, Fentson, Granger, Thomas, and Finnigin, I was able to capture you seven, and have you here offered to me as you are now."
Audrey stepped out of the shadows, and into the small area where the light from the fireplace reached and smiled directly at Severus. It was not a particularly sweet smile, actually it was rather venomous and filled with loathing.
"Underestimated me, didn't you Severus?" said Audrey, with a drawl the potions master had never heard before.
Still Severus remained silent, as he knew from past experience that answering would only make things worse if he said something wrong. Best keep his mouth shut and hope for the best.
There was a knock at the door where the five had entered. Voldemort had shifted his red gaze towards where the interruption had come from, but said nothing. Soon the door opened a little, to reveal a hooded figure who entered the room just slightly.
Because of the hood, it was difficult to see who was beneath it.
"Lord, shall the others enter?"
"No need. Just make sure you send for the three as soon as they arrive."
There was a slight nod, and a feeble "Yes master" of a reply, and the death eater was gone, leaving the room once again locked and filled with menace.
Once the door had shut, Voldemort turned his attention behind him, where Harry Potter was chained to the wall.
"Potter, you still have a chance to save your miserable life. You still have the chance to come with me; on the winning side."
Harry had caught on to Severus' method, and kept his mouth shut, unlike in previous years.
"Because, Potter, there is no way you can win. Not anymore; because, obviously, here you are, chained to the wall at my mercy. I can do with you as I wish. You are a powerful wizard; anyone who is of importance knows that. You could do well in my ranks. Just say the word, Potter, and you will be freed. Of course, you will have to prove yourself worthy. Kill all those you care about in this room, and then it will be over. You will live."
Harry couldn't take it. His many years of speaking back to the Dark Lord won over any sense he had at the moment. "And you think I would do something so despicable? Lower myself to your level, just to live?"
A slight curve of his lips showed that Voldemort was glad he was finally receiving at least some response; his patience had been wearing thin. "You don't want to live, Potter? All that power that would go to waste; all the magic, down the drain. It would be great, Potter, what we could do with our combined powers. Do you know how much we could do, with that much power?"
Harry just glared in response. He had said enough, and he knew it. By responding, he was merely pushing the Dark Lord to continue.
"Of course, I could just dispose of you. I do not need your power to be great, Potter, because I already am. I was great before you came along, and now that you will be destroyed, I will once again become feared amongst all the wizarding world; and soon, the muggle world as well. Are you sure you do not want to join me?"
The next thing that happened shocked every single individual in the room, including Harry himself. He spat in the face of Voldemort.
Grimacing at the show of disrespect, Voldemort raised his wand to Harry as Lavender had quickly taken hold of a part of material from her hood and whipped off the spit for her Lord.
"Then you shall be first to die, Potter," announced Voldemort as he pointed his wand directly at Harry. Because the Dark Lord had his back turned, he had not seen the show of panic on Audrey's face.
"Wait, Master!" she cried, and she knew she would get punished for the misbehaviour.
Voldemort turned to face his Death Eater, and burned his red eyes into hers, "Well?"
"It's just that, perhaps Ha-Potter could be of use in the future. Why not save him for last and kill the blonde first. The blonde is the one who betrayed your ranks, master. He disobeyed his father, and therefore he disobeyed you. He should die first, master."
"And what do I care who dies first? In the end they will all be dead. Why not Potter? He refuses to join my ranks." replied Voldemort.
Now Audrey looked absolutely panicked. This was not how she had planned the day to happen. "But master, would it not be more torture for Potter to watch as the ones he cared about died? Kill the blonde, then the red head. They will hurt him the most."
Audrey held her breath, as she feared the response that would come next, but instead, Voldemort smirked. "I knew I kept you around for a reason."
Turning back to Potter, who was chained to the wall glaring daggers into the two, Voldemort spoke again. "It would be worse, wouldn't it, for you to watch as the ones you 'love' died? Then you will see that your mere existence is the one thing you hoped to be of service for. They will die, Potter. And they will die because of you, and you shall watch."
Shifting where his wand was pointing, Voldemort glared at the blonde. "Disobey your father, will you? CRUCIO!" yelled Voldemort, and Harry's voice was heard, to the Dark Lord's delight.
Harry was struggling hard with his bonds to be free; there was even a trace of blood already as he pulled at the ropes. He had yelled for Voldemort to stop.
And stop was what Voldemort had done.
Harry watched as the pale body fell limply forward, and the blonde hair covered the beautiful face he loved so much. It almost felt as if he could feel the curse running through his own body as he watched Draco in pain.
"So, Harry, have you changed your mind?"
Harry could see the mockery in those red jewelled eyes, and beside that, he could see the desperate pleading in Audrey Fentson's eyes. Then he remembered Draco and how he had looked under the curse. If only he could save the others. If only he could save Draco, then it would be worth it. The killing, the evil deeds he would do would be worth it. To stop Draco's pain. He would make it painless. He could make it painless. It was worth it.
As Harry was about to give in to the Dark Lord's wishes, the blonde spoke.
An almost silent whisper escaped the tortured victim's lips. "Don't, Potter. Leave me be. I'll see you on the other side."
Harry stayed still for a moment as he stared at the blonde. After a longer moment of silence, he watched as Draco turned his head towards him and he looked into the silver eyes. See you on the other side, he thought, and tore his gaze from the beautiful face to turn to Voldemort.
"You are more pathetic than I thought, to keep begging for my side in battle." said Harry hoarsely. He saw the hope in Audrey's eyes fail, and Voldemort's eyes narrow in anger.
The Dark Lord raised his wand at Draco again, but there was a knock at the door. Harry let out his breath as the attention of the Dark Lord was shifted to the source of noise.
Once again, after a moment of no response, the door creaked open slightly to reveal Hermione, Dean, and Seamus standing at the door. "Sorry to interrupt, master," said Dean, "but we were told that you wanted to see us."
As memory served Voldemort, he smiled and turned proudly towards Harry and Draco once more, as if displaying his achievement to them.
"We were just about to finish off Malfoy, here, while Potter watched it all happen."
Harry turned his head back to look at Draco, and their eyes met when realization hit Harry like a broken dam. Draco wanted to make sure that the last thing he would see was Harry, and Harry allowed him that much.
Voldemort raised his wand once more, but this time he quickly averted his curse to a red head who was currently chained on the other side of the room.
This time Harry had been too shocked to respond as he had not even been ready to respond to the act. He had been bracing for the attack on Draco, but it had not come. He looked up to see where there curse had hit. After a short moment of torture, and Ron crying out in pain, Voldemort dropped his wand, and let the curse live itself out on the red head.
Once again, the body slumped forward, and red hair fell and covered Ron's face.
Harry could see the expression on Blaise' face, as if he could die just from watching the curse go through his lover.
Voldemort laughed; a strange sound to the ear, as he took in all the shocked expressions. "I decided that we should play a bit, first. There is no need to rush death, especially when the death can come so slowly and painfully."
Harry paled at the thought. He not only had to watch Draco and his friends die, he had to watch as they were tortured to death - tortured painfully to death.
He heard a slight noise from Draco, and he looked over to see the silver eyes staring at him. How long had Draco kept his gaze on Harry?
"Don't give in, Potter. I know you. You have strength. Use it now if at no other time. Let it happen. In the end, I will still meet you on the other side."
Harry smiled. "On the other side," he whispered back, and he could see the little flash of light behind Draco's eyes.
"How touching," mocked a voice Harry was starting to get quite annoyed of at the moment, "'On the other side,' well, not if I keep torturing the two of you."
"But that way, you will never be rid of me, will you?" retorted Harry bitterly.
"I do not need to be rid of you," spat the Dark Lord.
"Yes, you do. If you do not kill me, you will never win, Voldemort. You will not have lost, but you will never have won, either."
"I do not need your mere presence to win Potter. You are a child who should have died years ago."
"Yes, and that is what marks that there shall never be a winner as long as both of us are alive."
"What are you speaking of, boy?"
"The prophecy; the one you were so obsessed with getting your hands on two years ago."
Harry's heart leapt as he saw the hungry look in the Dark Lord's eyes.
"No one but him has ever heard all of it. You are lying to me, Potter!" shouted Voldemort menacingly.
Harry shrugged, "You do not have to believe me, but that is what the prophecy says. You will never win as long as I am alive."
Voldemort sneered, "Fine, then. We shall quickly dispose of all of you as soon as we can, but not without the maximum amount of pain."
The Dark Lord turned to his Death Eaters, and addressed them each. "I get Potter, Fentson can have Malfoy, Brown gets Parkinson, Granger gets Snape, Thomas gets Weasley, and Finnigin gets Zabini. Understood?"
There were muffled agreements and nods going around as everyone moved into their positions.
Each one of the death eater's did as they were told and pointed their wands to their victims, as Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry.
Harry leaned his head back to the wall and smiled as he looked into the eyes of the one who tried to kill him years before. When he received a glare in response, he smiled and turned his head towards the blonde once more to find the eyes already on him. They smiled at one another, and braced themselves for the pain they would go through until they arrived on the other side.