Chapter 2: Lessons Are Learned
The next time they met was in the underground harbor where the boats for the first year lake crossing were stowed. Severus got there first and hid in one of the boats. None of the wall sconces were lit, and when Severus dimmed his wand, the cavern was in complete darkness. Even after his eyes adjusted, he could wave his moonlight-pale fingers right in front of his face but see nothing. Patience was one of the few virtues for which he had any respect. He waited.
This time Bellatrix didn't arrive by Portkey, instead she came down the damp stone steps. Her footsteps were silenced, but he heard the whisper of her robes against the stone wall and smelled her scent riding on the dank breeze generated by her movement. When he was certain he had her located, he aimed his wand and shouted, "Crucio!"
Bellatrix howled as she was knocked off her feet and landed writhing on the pebbled beach. Before Severus had time to gloat, though, she was on her feet again, panting heavily and gripping her wand. "Stupify!" she cried, snapping her wand sharply at him. Red fire flashed; Severus was thrown back out of the boat and landed in the water with a splash.
Unable to move, the dark, still waters closed over his head. He was frozen by the spell and the cold, and in any case, he couldn't swim. In the black and weightless world under the surface, he didn't know if he could find which way was up even if he could move.
His bursting lungs were just about to insist he attempt to breathe the lake water, over even his most strenuous objections, when he felt himself swiftly rising. In only a few seconds, his head broke the surface, and he gasped lungfuls of chilly air. He kept rising until he was hovering over the harbor, then floated across and landed on his feet on the pier, a little in front of Bellatrix. He could see her now by the light of her wand-tip. Pushing wet hair out of his eyes, he watched her grimly, wand held at the ready. Now he was in for it.
Bellatrix laughed and dried him with a spell. "There is your reward for managing to curse me. Hopefully next time you can keep it up longer," she said with a sneer.
Severus' eyes widened slightly. She wasn't angry, she'd wanted him to do it. What a pity his curse had worn off so quickly, he hadn't known you could throw off the Cruciatus Curse.
"You have to mean it, Severus, you have to really want it to hurt. Surely you knew that?"
"I know it now," he replied gamely. He wouldn't forget.
Over the next few weeks, Severus continued to receive summonses to late-night meetings in dark, secluded places. Gradually, he became better at locating the stubborn voice. He took to thinking of it as 'the snarky one' and cultivated it whenever he could.
Soon he felt he could listen to it, and throw off the spell voice if he tried, but he bided his time and grew stronger. He fought the spell a little more each time, enough to make Bellatrix know he was trying and not give up on him, not enough to make her really worried. That was the Slytherin way.
Between assignations, he would slip out to the Forest. Hovering just inside its edges, he practiced the Cruciatus Curse and the Imperious Curse on such small creatures as came his way. Pretty soon, the little woodland animals learned to make themselves scarce when he came into the woods. The larger ones kept well out of his way, too.
Severus now spent his free time researching stealth spells. He already knew several ways to silence the sounds of the body; now he found spells to cover scent as well. Next he learned to Disillusion, Reflect, Screen and Dissemble. During the day he practiced slipping around the castle. Even other Slytherins were shocked at how he would suddenly appear, scowling, out of nowhere. They whispered about him amongst themselves, but they never said anything really bad: they were always too afraid he was listening.
At night he practiced stealth as he found different ways to sneak out of the castle. He had some close calls, but never got found out. He now knew exactly who was snogging whom, and how often, and which others they were cheating on. He became adept at spotting overheated couples in dark corners and took sardonic pleasure in rousting them out with a well-placed hex, just when a teacher was passing by.
Inevitably, he ran into Potter and Evans, hiding out behind a rosebush in the garden. He blasted the roses apart, more out of habit than anything else. By now, dark, hooded eyes had replaced emerald green in his late-night fantasies. Lily's unasked-for and unwanted kindness was eclipsed in his mind by an imperious manner which begged to be humbled. Severus thought he was just the wizard to do it.
One evening in April, he strolled right past the caretaker's annoying cat. When he did not so much as twitch a whisker, he knew he was ready.
The next time Bellatrix summoned him for "lessons," it was to go deep into the Forest, late at night. Severus hadn't been afraid of the Forbidden Forest in years; he was quite able to defend himself by now against anything he might run across there. Hopefully even against the woman he was intending to meet.
This time, he waited till he was sure she would be there already before entering the forest. His spells of stealth were already around him, cast before his exit from the castle. Adding a whispered spell for night-seeing, he stepped out of the moonlit meadow and into the night forest. Walking carefully to the specified spot, Severus looked around and watched the small, nocturnal creatures of the forest scampering around looking for nuts and seeds. They would have hidden in a flash if they had sensed his presence, but none did.
Finally, he saw her in the little clearing. Her wand was held at the ready, and she was peering into the trees looking for his approach. Severus circled around and walked right up behind her. He held his wand and watched her for a moment. She had taken off her robe and laid it on the ground nearby. She wasn't nude this evening; she wore a dark green gown, long sleeved and close fitting, made of some fabric that clung to her lush curves as she moved. He admired her tall curved body, that tight ass and her long, thick black hair, which hung unbound to her waist.
He considered her, standing there. He brought up every memory of her: cursing him with pain, forcing him to be a puppet, his lust for her and the way she deliberately fed it, then left him hard and alone, with only her scent remaining on the air. He harnessed all of that, and he felt a dark desire grow in him to hurt her. Yes, he wanted to see her scream in pain, beg him for mercy. He gestured with his wand and snapped "Crucio!" He watched with pleasure as she howled in pain and fell to her knees.
Severus stepped into the clearing and enjoyed the show as Bellatrix writhed and cursed. He felt her try to throw off the spell, but he drew on the pleasure he was feeling, watching her finally suffering, and his curse held. "Beg me, Bella. Beg me to stop," Snape ordered her, with a cruel curve to his smile.
She laughed harshly at him, and, between gasps, said she'd sooner beg Dumbledore to let her blow him. Severus lips widened into a smile. "Now there's an idea, Bella, but let's leave Dumbledore out of it, shall we?"
He lifted the point of his wand up and away from Bellatrix, releasing the curse, but before he could cast another, she had grabbed her wand from where she'd dropped it and, with the speed of a striking cobra, put him again under the Imperius Curse. Damn, she was fast! Severus thought as he slipped into that mindless place yet again. Bellatrix stood watching him a moment, her breathing was hard and fast, her lips were parted slightly, and there was a hot light shining in her eyes that he'd never seen before.
"Very good, little one, you have demonstrated excellent control of the Cruciatus Curse. There may be hope for you yet." Bella gave him a superior smile. "You will have to learn to be much more alert, though, before I bring you to my Master."
Severus had heard rumors: the Slytherins were whispering of a Dark Lord who had risen and would cleanse their world of Mudbloods, half-bloods and blood traitors. That would fix Potter and his mudblood girlfriend, that mangy werewolf and also Black, who didn't deserve to be related to the glorious woman who stood before him. Couldn't come a moment too soon if you asked him. Was that what this was about? Was the Dark Lord interested in him? Was that why Bellatrix wanted him to know the Unforgivable Curses? That was very interesting indeed.
While he mused, Bellatrix had decided what she wanted of him this time. He heard the spell voice whisper instructions. This time, though, he also heard the snarky voice. It said, snidely, that's very nice, but isn't it time you were in charge? Severus definitely agreed with the snarky voice. With a mental shrug, he shed the silky spell voice like a too-large cloak. Before Bellatrix realized he had thrown off her spell, he turned the tables and cursed her with Imperio.
"Now, what was that you had suggested before? You were going to beg for something?"
Deep-set eyes glittered as Bellatrix dropped sinuously to her knees before him. "Please, Severus, let me take you in my mouth?"
About bloody time, he thought with anticipation, as her long fingers skillfully unbuttoned his trousers and released him to the cool forest air. She opened her mouth and touched him sensuously with her tongue; he closed his eyes and groaned. Opening them again, he saw danger in her eyes and felt her mind shifting under his -- searching for a weak spot in his control. A stray shaft of moonlight glinted off her white teeth.
He gasped now, and not with passion. Was this about to be the dumbest thing he had ever done? If she slipped his spell, would she bite it off? Would he bleed to death before he could get to the hospital wing? Certainly he would -- he'd rather die than go to Madam Pomfrey in that condition. Stark fear lent him strength, and he brought Bella firmly back under control of his spell. He made her take him down into her throat.
"Aahhhh," he sighed, he'd had no idea anything could feel so good. What a pity; fevered as he was, this was going to last at most about five seconds. Bella seemed amused at his reaction, at least she chortled, deep in her chest. The vibration of it in her throat sent him hurtling over the precipice. He staggered with the intensity of his climax, but Bella wrapped her arms around his hips and helped him balance. She drank every last drop, and laughed as he sighed and released the spell he had no more strength to maintain.
"Very good, my little one, we'll make a decent wizard of you yet." Far from being angry, Bella seemed pleased that he had been strong enough to hold her. He knew she had tried her best to throw him; since she hadn't done it, that must mean she couldn't!
Severus kept a grip on his wand and watched her carefully, while he buttoned his trousers with his other hand.
"You have been studying. I wonder what else you've been up to that I don't know about," Bella said, looking at him speculatively. Faster than thought, she whipped her wand at him in a sharp gesture and snapped out another spell, "Legilimens!"
Suddenly, Severus felt every horrible, embarrassing, humiliating memory -- of which he had many -- rise to the surface. Scenes of himself being bullied and beaten, tripped and covered in dirt. Dangling upside down with his privates in the breeze, while the whole school laughed at him. Alone in his bed, stroking himself and crying Bella's name as he climaxed. Merlin's balls, she was seeing all this! Gathering every scrap of strength he could muster, he threw her out of his mind, and set up a wall there. He'd never heard of this, but he apparently had a natural talent for it; he felt her try to slip around his wall, but knew she failed.
"Better and better, Severus," Bella said with a wicked smile. "I believe you are ready for the next lesson. I will teach you the Avada Kedavra." With that promise, Bella Disapparated with a sharp crack, leaving Severus alone in the small clearing. He felt exultant that he'd finally managed to best her, at least some of the time.
Clearly he would have to work on his speed next; she was so fast it seemed as if thought were action to her, with no time needed for mere physical motion to accomplish it. Speed and a counter-spell to that last one she had cast. What had the word been again? 'Legilimens.' He would arm himself against that spell before he met her again. He would never suffer another to see those memories while he lived.