A/N: Chapter beta read by Forty-Two Dreams. All remaining mistakes are mine.
THE WATCHER
When Wilson entered the circle of Death Eaters, she looked very pale. When her gaze fell on the two other members of the Order, lying dead on the ground, she paled even more. She cast a look around her, her lips moving silently, as if she were trying to count the Death Eaters, but gave up halfway, looking discouraged.
After a nod from Voldemort, the Dementors left and were replaced by two Death Eaters, taking good guard around Wilson.
"Endora Wilson, I presume," the Dark Lord eventually said.
The witch ignored him and remained silent, not even looking at him, her eyes rooted to the ground. Snape supposed she feared Legilimency and preferred to avoid eye contact with the Dark Lord as much as she could. Voldemort could undeniably end this in only five seconds, but obviously he had decided to play with her a bit.
Voldemort waved Malfoy to come near him, and the Death Eater gave him something before returning to his place.
"I believe this is your wand," the Dark Lord declared as he wielded the item in front of him.
Wilson still didn't say a word or look at him. Voldemort broke the wand in two and let the bits fall to the ground one by one, staring at her provocatively. Breaking another wizard's wand was the most contemptuous thing a wizard could do, and this would have been all the more meaningful if the two wizards involved were purebloods. But at the moment, Wilson looked much more concerned by the fragments of her broken wand than by the insult made to her wizarding inheritance.
As she remained silent, Voldemort lifted his own wand.
"Crucio!" he exclaimed.
Snape noticed it wasn't the most violent of Cruciatus - the Dark Lord was going to increase the pain gradually as the curses went, just to taunt her.
"This was just a little warming up, so that you know what is awaiting you," Voldemort told Wilson as the two Death Eaters were helping her up. "I know you know the identity of a spy among my Death Eaters; one of your late friends let it slip. Who is it?" the Dark Lord demanded.
Wilson stayed quiet.
"Crucio!" Voldemort cast again, and this time the Cruciatus was more violent.
Wilson fell on her knees under the pain with a yell of distress. The two Death Eaters on the witch's side lifted her up harshly as soon as the curse was over while she was trying to catch her breath.
Voldemort examined her lengthily with a malicious smile. "Wilson…" he said as if he was trying to remember something. "I have heard of you before… of what happened to your family…"
Wilson tensed perceptibly and shot him a quick look before looking away again. Apparently, the Dark Lord had tickled a soft spot.
"Ah, I'm glad to see I managed to catch your attention…" Voldemort began to walk around her, slowly, like a bird of prey. "Your husband - Jonathan Wilson, right? - was an Auror, wasn't he?"
Was an Auror? Snape wondered.
"I was told he met an unfortunate and untimely end five years ago," Voldemort continued, still circling around Wilson.
Well at least this explained why he hadn't heard from Jonathan Wilson for such a long time, Snape thought. One of the former Death Eaters Wilson used to investigate the past of had probably grown tired of his persistence and had eliminated him. Snape discreetly cast a look around, wondering which one it was.
Voldemort bent to talk in the witch's ear. "Such a pity your son had to be at home with him when it happened…"
Wilson took a deep breath, looking more and more anxious. Her foot was tapping the ground nervously.
An Auror and his son, allegedly killed by a former Death Eater… This should have made the front page… Snape wondered why he hadn't heard about it before today, until he realised that five years before, newspapers and other means of information were too busy arguing over the ominous reopening of the Chamber of Secrets.
"I also heard you arrived only a few minutes too late that night," Voldemort continued, and then whispered in her ear. "How frustrating…"
Wilson seemed to be at breaking point. Snape wondered what the Dark Lord was getting at, apart from weakening her psychologically before a possible mental intrusion. He held his wand tighter.
"Now the interesting part is that I heard this story from one of the protagonists," Voldemort went on.
Wilson brusquely looked up to him.
"I see I managed to arouse your curiosity at last," Voldemort said. "Yes, I mean the one who murdered your family…"
Wilson had more and more troubles to maintain her composure.
The Dark Lord bent to murmur in her ear. "He's here tonight…"
Wilson began to look around her uneasily, as if she was expecting to find a giant flashing arrow above one of the Death Eaters indicating "it's him".
Taunting her like that was really cruel, and many would have already broken into tears. Snape remembered that despite his year-long teasing - to a much lesser degree though - Wilson had barely ever lost her temper. This thought didn't give him as much faith in what was to come as he had hoped. He held his wand even tighter.
Voldemort went on, "I bet you would die to know who it was, since the Ministry of Magic failed to charge anyone…"
Snape noted all the irony of this declaration. Indeed she could die, literally, to know who it was.
"I think you're beginning to understand what I'm getting at," Voldemort carried on. "You know a name I want to hear, I know a name you want to hear… It's up to you…" he ended close to her ear.
Now Snape was really beginning to worry for his life - such an understatement. In principle, between discovering who assassinated one's family and saving the skin of someone one couldn't stand, the choice was quick. Wilson closed her eyes, looking torn, chewing on her lower lip - damn, she really seemed hesitant.
While he gripped his wand dearly, ready to disapparate as quickly as he could, Snape clutched to the hope Wilson was aware that her revelations wouldn't save her and, assuming the Dark Lord filled his part of the deal, she wouldn't be able to do much with this piece of information once dead.
When she opened her eyes again, Wilson seemed to be on the verge of tears. She took a deep breath, set her head firmly, and remained stubbornly silent.
"I see," Voldemort articulated with the tone of someone who had lost his patience and no longer wanted to play. "Crucio!"
The Dark Lord wasn't holding his power back any more, and Wilson let out a long shriek of pain as she convulsed on the ground. When the curse was lifted at last, the two Death Eaters next to her lifted her up roughly. Her cheeks were wet with a few tears.
"All right, we're done playing now," Voldemort stated as he raised his wand once more. "Legilimens!" he cried.
Snape was holding his wand so tightly his fingers were going numb. Maybe he shouldn't wait for the last moment. He had seen and heard enough; he should disapparate immediately and save his neck; there was nothing he could do.
After a few seconds, Voldemort stared angrily at Wilson. "LEGILIMENS!" he yelled once more.
Could Wilson be skilled in Occlumency? Snape wondered - this would be really welcome. In any case, Voldemort looked totally infuriated and Wilson was smiling a half satisfied, half demented smile.
"How long do you think you will manage to keep this information from me?" the Dark Lord exclaimed, enraged. "Do you really think I would have told you who had killed your husband?" he began to rant. "Let me tell you one thing: he deserved what happened to him. Serves that filthy little mudblood right, stooping lower than earth to stick his filthy nose in matters that were none of his business. And you, who soiled your blood, mingling with this pathetic excuse for a wizard to produce second rate offspring. You disgust me."
"You – " Wilson suddenly flew into a rage supported by a flood of particularly crude curses, and she would have jumped at Voldemort's throat if the two Death Eaters around her hadn't held her back by the shoulders.
The Dark Lord looked greatly offended by her sudden outburst and rudeness.
"Crucio!" Voldemort exclaimed angrily before she was done.
The Cruciatus hit the witch at full blast this time. She fell to the ground again, letting go an ear-splitting shout and quivering with pain.
"So you do speak, after all," the Dark Lord said as he maintained the curse. "Such a pity you speak only to say foolish things. Hopefully you will soon change your mind and make the right decision," he went on casually while she was still writhing with pain on the ground.
It was only after a long moment that he lifted the curse. Wilson was crying her eyes out - she had finally cracked up. Snape had a hard time deciding whether it was due to the Cruciatus or to her fit of anger - most certainly both.
The Death Eaters lifted her up once more, and this time they were supporting her totally. She was too spent to stand up on her own, and should they let her go she would fall back to the ground. Her head was dangling forward, her hair falling across her face.
"So, have you made up your mind?" Voldemort asked. "Will you tell me what I want to hear?"
Wilson nodded weakly, still sobbing. Snape clutched his wand. This was the night when his spying would come to an end, he thought, unsure whether it was a good thing. The Order would lose a precious source of information…
The Dark Lord walked closer to Wilson. She lifted her head just enough to speak face to face with him, and whispered a few syllables. And if Snape read on her lips correctly, she had just told the Dark Lord three short and simple words.
Go to hell.
Snape felt a sudden surge of respect for her. While it was a very foolish thing to do, few were those who dared provoke the Dark Lord in such a fashion under such circumstances. And as he read the pure hatred in her eyes, he realised her attitude had nothing to do with an attempt to maintain his cover as a spy.
If Voldemort's face boiling with rage was any indication, her behaviour was going to precipitate her death, but she hadn't done this to ensure she wouldn't reveal Snape's identity. He could be disposed of, she could probably care less. No, she was doing this for very personal reasons.
She had just shown a trait common to all those who had lost someone to the Dark Lord - or one of his followers for that matter: the will to give Voldemort anything but satisfaction. And in the process she had managed to piss off the Dark Lord badly.
Voldemort's nostrils were flaring with anger. Wilson was laughing quietly like a madwoman and crying at the same time. Voldemort took a few steps back from the witch.
"KILL HER!" he ordered furiously.
A few Death Eaters volunteered and stepped forward.
"Avada…" one of them began.
"Wait!" Voldemort interrupted, his hand raised.
Snape shivered. Had the Dark Lord changed his mind? Did he want a last attempt at Legilimency?
"That's exactly what you want, isn't it?" Voldemort told Wilson as he walked closer to her before shaking his head. "You don't deserve the killing curse… Oh no, we'll deal with you the good old way…" Then he hissed in her ear with an evil smirk, "the slow and painful way…"
Wilson's smile had disappeared, indicating she had indeed hoped for the killing curse. Snape closed his eyes with apprehension - he knew what the Dark Lord was referring to. The other Death Eaters did too, for he could hear some of them sniggering in anticipation.
After a nod from their Master, the two Death Eaters next to Wilson irreverently dropped her to the ground. As if she knew what was to come, she instinctively wrapped her arms around her head just before the Death Eaters began to kick her violently. Others left the circle to join them.
There were so many Death Eaters that only a handful could participate. In a way Snape was grateful he didn't have to join to maintain his cover. He had more than enough just watching the others letting themselves go and listening to Wilson's regular sharp yelps of pain.
After he heard the clear sound of a rib breaking, Snape averted his gaze - just watching was making him sick. A feeling of powerlessness overwhelmed him. Even if it hadn't been her prime motivation she had saved his cover and probably his life.
After a nasty kick to the head Wilson suddenly stopped yelling.
"That's enough," Voldemort interrupted.
All the Death Eaters returned to their places, and the Dark Lord walked closer to the unconscious witch lying next to the two dead members of the Order of the Phoenix and bent over her.
From where he was Snape could see she was still breathing faintly, but she probably wouldn't survive very long in her state. Her face was badly bruised and covered with blood, and Snape could only imagine the condition of the rest of her body.
While leering over Wilson's immobile body, the Dark Lord raised his foot over her chest and lowered it excruciatingly slowly. Wilson's eyes burst open as she took a sharp and painful intake of breath. If the broken rib hadn't already punctured a lung, it certainly had now.
"It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Voldemort declared spitefully as he withdrew his foot from Wilson's chest, while the witch lost consciousness again.
The Dark Lord turned to the circle of Death Eaters.
"May this serve as an example," he said coldly. "I will get you, whoever you are," he added to no one in particular, but Snape felt even sicker than he already was. "And what happened to your friend is nothing compared to what is waiting for you… In the meantime, don't forget to tell Dumbledore I managed to put my hands on the Experimental Charms nonetheless… You're all dismissed."
Snape cast a last look on the three members of the Order of the Phoenix while all the Death Eaters were disapparating one by one.
Coming Next: In a Rush