A/N: Well everyone, thanks for waiting for next post - sorry about how long it took. I am afraid that you will probably have to wait at least four weeks before I can write another chapter (I have this evil thing called exams coming up). Also I still need a beta for this story (if you can't tell by my grammatical and spelling errors undoubtedly spread throughout this chapter and the whole story). If you could spare the time (I don't update that regularly) could you leave a message either in a review or email me.

Well I would like to thank everyone for their reviews. I thought that this time I might answer some questions that were posted… the answers for some are quite long…if you don't want to read them just scroll down to the start of the chapter and enjoy (hopefully)!

H-A-Hplova22: I am really sorry if you started reading this fanfic and don't like Severitus challenges (I feel the same way about other types of fanfics…but I really like Severitus challenges)- I will understand completely if you don't read it anymore. The only promise I can make is that I will try and make this story not quite so predictable. I don't see how Harry and Snape can go to a happy family after so much hate. In this fanfic I hope to only use it as a plot springboard (if you get what I mean). The questions about Harry's appearance will be answered later (not in this new chapter either)- at this stage it hasn't occurred to Harry or Snape- as being prisoners has not given them too much time to consider the new development. The Death Eaters wards is also a valid point- and one that I (sad to say forgot to write into the first chapter)- if I get the time I will go back to fix it. I may even try to include it in future chapters. In this fanfic Dumbledore found out about the Potters demise before anyone else. He apparated to Godric's Hollow and took Harry with him back to his office, considering to have Severus take Harry to the Dursley's he called him up to his office, however, the recalled flashback took place (not very long passed here), the obliviation was cast…and to ensure that none of these events were picked up by memory flashes, he took Harry back to Godric's Hollow where he sent Hagrid to pick him up.- I hope that is a satisfactory answer to your last question (it does fit with the book- because Dumbledore and McGonagall were actually waiting for Hagrid to arrive). Your points about my grammar are probably very accurate (however, I really don't have time to correct it…so I hope readers will forgive me). Thanks for your review (you did point out quite a number of valid points).

Kcrazyk: Thanks

Idypebsady: You will just have to read to find out:P

Htbmny: Thanks

HikaruOfDreams: Thanks

Arnyekmester: …Now Voldemort can be really devious, you never know….he might just kill Harry and Snape…only joking (I wouldn't have a fanfic then…although I could do it from Voldemort's point of view..)

USA-Jeanette: I don't think that Dumbledore's betrayal on the issue of Harry's parentage, although really, is enough to justify Harry and Snape switching sides- Voldemort after all killed Harry's mum, James Potter and many other innocents… although if Snape was already had a grudge against Dumbledore…perhaps…. Look forward to your next review.

Logi: You will get the answer to your query in this chapter…although I wouldn't scroll down to the bottom to find out what happens unless you want to ruin the chapter :P…Keep reviewing.

Harper2: Well here is your update- finally…so enjoy!

Chapter 4: Ultimatum

Harry and Snape followed the Death Eaters through the maze of corridors that lead to Voldemort's throne room. Harry glanced at Snape, noticing that despite being Voldemort's prisoner he still held an air of self-assurance and confidence. It was amazing the mask that Snape could slip into when the moment called. Harry and Snape were suddenly brought to a halt before the two wooden doors that lead to Voldemort's throne room. Two of the Death Eaters that had been escorting them pushed the doors open widely, a clattering bang echoing through the large drafty room. The Death Eaters who had escorted Harry and Snape from their cell pushed them into the room and towards Voldemort. Voldemort was sitting regally on the throne like chair that stood on a platform at the end of the room. Harry and Snape were forced to walk until they were less then one metre away from Voldemort and once there, the guards forced them to kneel before Voldemort. Neither Harry nor Snape put any resistance to this, both knew that by resisting they would gain very little and with possible large and dangerous consequences.

While kneeling down in front of Voldemort, Harry was able to glance around the room. From the restricted view Harry noticed that Death Eaters lined the walls on either side of him for as far as he could see. All the Death Eaters were clad in the black robes characteristic of the servants of Voldemort. They each war the white masks that hid their identities not just from their victim but also from each other.

"Severus, you know you still have not been punished for being a spy, for betraying me and betraying your colleagues. I think it is about time you were repaid for your betrayal." Murmurs of agreement sounded across the room from the Death Eaters. Voldemort took this time to glance around at his imposing meeting of inner-circle followers and finally to his two current victims. "But, I have decided that this punishment will be different. Rather then torturing you I think it would only be fitting for your son to suffer your fate." Voldemort smiled a cruel smile not only at the thought of torturing Snape through his son but also at the thought of torturing the boy who had escaped on so many occasions.

There was a rustling around the room and a few small gasps from the Death Eaters. It was obvious that Voldemort had told no one until now of the connection Harry and Snape shared.

"Yess," Voldemort said, "they are son and father. Who would have known that one of your colleagues spawned the so-called Savior of the Wizarding World. Do not worry my faithful, tonight you will be able to get your revenge. Not only will we make Severus wish he had never betrayed our family, but you will be able to have revenge on the Boy-Who-Lived. Potter over there will serve the punishment of Severus for betraying the Death Eaters."

An anguished look made its way past what Harry had thought was an impenetrable mask on Snape's face. Harry was well aware that Snape probably knew exactly what the 'punishment' for betrayal was, having been a trusted Death Eater for many years now. A cold silver of fear began to seep its way into Harry's skin and Harry became aware that these next few minutes could be his last few remaining minutes of sanity.

Voldemort flicked out his wand and with some silently muttered words Snape was frozen and lifted away from Harry to the opposite side of the room. "Now, Severus, we wouldn't want you interfering with tonight's festivities, now would we. Although, we do, of course, want you to be able to watch and enjoy our wonderful revenge on your son." Voldemort said in a calm tone that was laced with pain.

With that the twenty or so Death Eaters moved closer, gathering in a large circle around Harry, although leaving a clear gap so that the now restrained Snape could see all that went on. Voldemort assented his head and the first of the Death Eaters cast the 'Crucio' curse on Harry.

Harry collapsed to the ground as he felt pain beyond pain spread through his body. Although he had experienced the Crucio curse before, the previous experience still did not prepare him for the actual pain. There seemed to be no end to the pain. Almost at the point where he felt he could take no more, the Death Eater took it off him. Harry lay gasping for breath on the cold stone floor. Noticing that through all the pain his nose was now dripping blood. The relief of the pain stopping, however, was short lived. Seconds later, another Death Eater cast another curse on Harry. The curse was unknown to Harry, although he soon discovered what the curse did.

Harry felt as though his bones were being ripped out of his sockets, that each bone was being mended and then put back together. The curse was stopped and another Death Eater stood forward, casting another curse on Harry. This curse felt as though Harry was being boiled alive. His skin began to turn red and blisters appeared upon his skin. The curse was stopped and yet another curse was cast on him. The torturing session continued long into the night. After hours the Death Eaters seemed to get bored of cursing Harry magically and instead began to physically kick and punch Harry. Harry felt many bones in his body break as it continued. He began to drift in and out of consciousness, however, every time he blacked out the Death Eaters would quickly revive him with a spell. There was no small relief for Harry.

Finally, after hours of the torturing session, the pain finally stopped. Barely conscious, Harry did not notice Voldemort signaling the Death Eaters to move out, nor did he notice that the room now only held Snape, Voldemort and him.

Voldemort released Snape from the spell that had kept him restrained during the whole night. Snape, not use to the movement, half walked and half crawled over to where Harry lay in a pool of his own blood. Snape tried to find something he could do to help Harry but with no potions or no wand it seemed futile. All the while Voldemort looked down on them from his throne with the air of a victor.

"How does it feel to be a father?" Voldemort said. Snape glanced up at Voldemort, hatred shining in his eyes.

"You bastard. Joining you was the biggest mistake of my life, despite my little or no choice in the matter anyway." Snape said, anger lashing his words. Snape was so disturbed by the torture of the boy lying in front of him, that he did not consider the consequences of his actions.

"Tut, tut, Severus, you should know the rules by now. You are a prisoner, thus you have to be polite to your captor." Voldemort said with a small grin. A flash of horror passed though Snape's brain.

With a quick flick of Voldemort's wand and a brief 'Crucio', the indescribable pain once again assailed Harry. Voldemort held Harry under the curse until seconds before the point of breaking and with the release of the curse, Harry to immediately fall into unconsciousness.

A slight creak of the large door that provided the only entrance to the throne room alerted Voldemort and Snape to the new presence of Nagini into the room. The large snake slithered into the room, carefully avoiding Snape and Harry until it came before Voldemort. Thinking about, Snape found it curious as to why he hadn't seen the snake at all since he had first entered Voldemort's latest manor. It was not unknown, however, for the snake to run errands for Voldemort.

Due to Harry's unconscious state, Snape was unable to discover what was being said between Nagini and Voldemort in their hushed parseltongue conversation. What Snape could tell, however, was that Voldemort was growing more and more angry and visibly frustrated with the information Nagini was bringing him. At one point in the conversation Voldemort clearly said in English 'damn Dumbledore', yet Snape was still unable to grasp what the majority of the conversation was actually concerning.

Nagini and Voldemort's conversation came to what seemed like an abrupt end and Nagini curled around Voldemort's throne, her task apparently done.

Voldemort stared calculatingly down at Snape and the unconscious Harry. After an unnerving silence, Voldemort got out his wand and pointed it towards Snape "Legitimens" Voldemort shouted as he easily pushed through Snape's non-resistant occlumancy shield.

Voldemort seemed to be searching for something within Snape's memories. Random flashes of memories surrounding meetings with Dumbledore and Potter appeared before Snape. Snape began to get worried about what information Voldemort wanted. Suddenly, Voldemort ended his torrent through Snape's mind.

"Yes," Voldemort whispered. "You and your son may be of more use being alive". Yet, just as quickly as Voldemort had stopped the bombardment on Snape's mind, it started again. This time, however, it seemed as though Voldemort was trying to confirm his theory. It once again came to an abrupt halt.

Voldemort sat on his throne pondering. Snape heard a slight moan come from the boy lying in front of him. Snape glanced down and realised that Harry must of regained consciousness. Harry appeared to be trying to sit up and Snape attempted to assist him. Voldemort looked on at the proceedings before him with some hint of amusement at seeing the boy-who-lived struggling to sit up.

Harry felt as though a large truck had just run over his head and then reversed back over it. Despite the fact that he was now conscious, the world continued to spin due to the large amount of blood he had lost. Harry glanced at the wobbling room around him. As he tried to sit up he felt Snape trying to assist. With great caution not to move too suddenly and throw himself off-balance, Harry managed to get in a position where he could hold himself up.

"So the boy-who-lived has finally decided to join us." Voldemort stated. Voldemort paused, calculatingly locking eyes with Harry and then Snape. Voldemort cast a 'Stupefy' at Snape.

Harry felt Snape stiffen beside him.

Voldemort reached down beside his throne to retrieve a small box. "Boy," Voldemort said to Harry, "come here".

Harry hesitated, knowing that he would almost defiantly not like whatever was in that box. The last time Voldemort had cast 'Stupefy' on Snape he had been tortured. Voldemort, however, interrupted Harry's thoughts.

"Harry," Voldemort said with a condescending smile upon his face, "you know that if you don't come now, I will force you to do so anyway and then you will probably be handed over to the Death Eaters for punishment for disobedience."

Harry pondered why Voldemort didn't just force him with magic to come to him. He realised, however, that to Voldemort it was all about power. If Voldemort could get someone to do something without magic, then they would admit defeat to themselves. Yet, Harry also felt that Voldemort was wrong in this issue. He knew that if he followed what Voldemort ordered him to do, he would only stalling until he could get the upper edge that would give him a chance at changing the situation. Harry also recognised that Voldemort really would put his threats into action and if he did not want to face any additional consequences doing what Voldemort said may be his best option.

Cautiously Harry stood up, trying to overcome the disorientation before he gained balance. Hesitantly he moved towards Voldemort.

Voldemort reached out to grasp Harry's shoulder, pressing down on it until Harry was forced to his knees on the step just before Voldemort's throne. Voldemort released Harry when no more resistance came.

Harry, despite no longer being restrained by Voldemort's hand, felt himself locked in the kneeling position due to the now overwhelming feeling of dread running through him. Although Harry, like a good little Gryfindor, could bravely face Voldemort without fear, the feeling of helplessness and no control over the situation was quite different indeed. Harry's early thoughts about Voldemort not having power over him started to unravel at the seams.

Harry glanced up at Voldemort as he heard Voldemort move. Voldemort was once again holding the little wooden box Harry had previously seen. Voldemort opened the box, lifting out the object it contained within. Voldemort withdrew a thin metallic loop, which on closer inspection was made up of small winding snakes. The loop, despite appearing to be metallic, was made out of some material that Harry had never seen before that appeared to become invisible as it made contact with Voldemort's hand.

Voldemort reached out towards Harry and before Harry had time to react Voldemort had a firm hold of him by his hair. With the movement of Voldemort's other arm, Voldemort pressed the metallic loop against Harry's neck. Voldemort muttered a few words under his breath.

Harry felt a surge of magic and the cold presence of the metallic loop spread around his neck. Harry became aware of an indescribable feeling of his magic intertwining with what was obviously the magic of the loop.

Suddenly it stopped. Voldemort released Harry none-to-gently and Harry fell backwards onto the floor. The cold metallic presence was still around Harry's neck, Harry reached up to see why it was remained and to his horror discovered metallic loop that had been held by Voldemort was now placed around his neck. Tracing his fingers around what could now only be described as a collar, Harry felt no sign of a join.

Harry was besieged by the significance of a collar and the relationship collars had to slavery. Looking momentarily at Voldemort, Harry became aware that the outcome was exactly what Voldemort wanted.

Trying to escape from both his thoughts of slavery and the person who brought about those thoughts, Harry stood up and began to move back towards Snape. A jolting feeling bought Harry's movements to a halt as Harry once again made contact with the ground. The collar had admitted so kind of shock, very similar to the bone-breaking feeling of being under 'Crucio'.

"Now Harry, I didn't say you could move anywhere, now did I?" Voldemort asked victoriously. Voldemort gestured for Harry to go back to his original position.

Harry hesitated, but was once again engulfed by the pain from the collar. As soon as the pain stopped, Harry made his way once again to kneel before Voldemort.

Harry felt a keen sense of helplessness at his situation. He felt as though he really was admitting defeat towards Voldemort. Although he had previously thought of finding a key moment to turn the tables on Voldemort, Voldemort now held yet another power over him.

Voldemort undid the 'Stupefy' on Snape.

Glimpsing out of the corner of his eye, Harry became aware of a look of concern Snape was casting his way. Snapping out of his thoughts, Harry became aware of the conversation Voldemort was now initiating with Snape.

"…I have a proposal, one which you will choose to follow if you want you and your son to continue to live." Voldemort said to Snape.

Harry and Snape looked up at Voldemort.

"I am willing to give you one last chance Severus, you will spy on Dumbledore and report back directly to me and I will allow you and your son to live. The only difference between our previous agreement, as you well know, is that you can now not hide anything from me that happens or is said between Dumbledore and yourself. Not only can you now not block me from your mind but I also have your son as a hostage. So if you want your son to live, you will do as I say." Voldemort said.

Pausing, Voldemort continued, "I have looked through your mind. You and I both know that you will not let Potter die, no matter what must be given up, after all, he is the child of the prophecy."

Harry looked back towards Snape, slightly shocked at this revelation.

"Will Potter be forced to stay here?" Snape asked, fully expecting a positive answer.

"No, I will even allow your son to go back to Hogwarts, on some conditions" replied Voldemort. Snape looked calculatingly at Voldemort. Snape knew that any conditions Voldemort put on this agreement wouldn't be without their burden but it was also a matter of getting Potter, even if he really was a Snape, back to Hogwarts and away from Voldemort.

"What are the conditions?" Snape asked Voldemort carefully, not wishing any note of dissent to be heard in his voice in case Voldemort suddenly changed his mind. Although the situation would definitely not be ideal, it could still give them the option of getting away from Voldemort and going into hiding.

Voldemort tapped his fingers against the armrest on his regal chair and began to reply, "You will firstly report back to me regularly, you know you cannot hide anything from me any more. Secondly, your son will come when I summon him and you will bring him."

The last comment brought a large amount of worry to Snape. To regularly bring Potter into contact with Voldemort could not result in anything positive for Potter nor the Order of the Phoenix.

Voldemort continued, "…I will not call at any obvious time when Dumbledore will notice for meetings between your son and myself. You and Potter will not tell Dumbledore anything about this deal, because remember I will discover it the next time I see you or your son. You will also continue to play an active part in the Order of the Phoenix and you must try and gain more of Dumbledore's trust."

"If you betray me again your son will suffer- and remember I can make him suffer from any where he is. So if you don't turn up to a meeting I will torture him until he is killed." Voldemort said. As if to emphasize his point, Harry once again found himself under the pain induced by the collar.

Harry gasped a breath of relief as the collar once again stopped causing him the immense wave of pain concurrent with the 'Crucio' curse and aggravating his already injured body.

"Well, Severus, what is your answer?" Voldemort asked.

With a pause, Snape reluctantly said "I agree".

A look of satisfaction and triumph came across Voldemort's face.

Voldemort looked down at Harry. Switching to parseltongue he began to speak to Harry, "Boy I will warn you. That collar doesn't only send pain. I will know every thing you say and do- so don't even attempt to try and tell Dumbledore. You will also not tell your dear old father about the other added features of the collar, understood." Voldemort paused, waiting for Harry's answer.

"What choice do I have," Harry hissed reluctantly in return.

"My thoughts exactly, boy," said Voldemort switching back to English. Voldemort looked towards Snape. "You can take the boy back to Hogwarts now – but remember what I have said. He will also likely need medical attention soon if you expect him to live for very much longer."

Snape stood up, all the while looking at Voldemort. Snape gestured to Harry to follow him, not, however, forgetting Death Eater protocol to bow before Voldemort before leaving.

As Harry made it through the two throne room doors, he collapsed. Snape looked sympathetically down upon him. With a quick decision, Snape lifted him up and carried him to the apparation point located just outside the front gate of the Manor.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Next Chapter: Harry is back at Hogwarts….

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