Chapter 9: Whenever he thought about it, he felt terrible. And so, at last, he came to a fateful decision…

Lucius Malfoy crawled forward and kissed the hem of the robes before backing away. Standing up, he gave his report. As a new favorite, he was given the dubious assignment of reporting any Muggle-baitings or attacks against wizarding families. When such jobs went well, Malfoy received the rewards first.

When such jobs failed…

Today's report yielded neither praise nor punishment, so Lucius remained unharmed for the moment. "Master," he added, "there has been an increase in Dumbledore's followers movement, especially in Knockturn Alley. The wolf has been witnessed in several pubs, collecting news and gossip."

"Ah, they are wondering where their pet has scampered off to." The Dark Lord turned in his armchair to regard the objective of the apparent search.

After a second infusion of Veritiserum, Snape's answers had started to dissolve into nonsense. It also didn't help that Nagini had bitten him for awaking her with his screams from the Cruciatus curse. It had taken three tries by several Death Eaters before they could force the anti-venom down his throat.

"He is not co-operating, master?"

"No, but I did not expect him to. You don't give him enough credit, Lucius. He has a brilliant mind--or had, I should say." Voldemort gave a low chuckle. "There are ways to get around his carefully constructed shields. I need the base memories of who he is, not the scrambled mess he's presenting."

The door behind them opened, admitting Nagini. She hissed something to her master, then slid closet to the man in the corner. Snape didn't move, even as the snake's head became level with his own.

"Would you stay a while, Lucius? Something has come up that needs my attention." Nagini followed her master out of room, leaving the two former classmates together.

Malfoy hesitated, then crouched down of the rug in front of Snape. From there he could see that more than just truth serum had been used on the man. Tell-tale twitches in the shoulders spoke of multiple Cruciatus curses and several bones were broken in the long, elegant hands. A particularly large flare of light from the fire revealed that the one side of Snape's chest was covered in blood, a bit of white bone protruding against the black.

"Severus, can you hear me?"

Snape turned his gaze toward the noise. Lucius recoiled slightly when he saw the eyes that had a silver film over them. The black eyes beneath the film were listless and dull. "I hear you," came the soft reply.

"You must tell him what he wants to know, Severus. There is no point in dissembling."

Snape's gazed stayed with Malfoy for a moment more, then slowly wandered away. Lucius reached out and shook the other's shoulder. "Pay attention!" he hissed.

Snape continued to let his gaze wander disinterestedly.

"You've lost it, traitor," Lucius muttered darkly as he rose to his feet. He turned away and moved toward the door.

Snape's eyes caught the firelight, clearing for an instant; his face seemed to shift into a calculating look. A moment later and his expression was blank again.

"He's a Parselmouth," he said, voice rasping from screaming.

Lucius whirled around, shock written in his features. Snape was now gazing at him, eyes clear, as if he recognized the man before him.

"What?"

"Never would have thought it, being where he is, but he is. Do you think he knows?"

Malfoy crouched back down in front of him. "What are you babbling about, Snape?"

Snape smirked. "Score one for Slytherin. I finally got one up on you, you pompous idiot. Makes up for it all, for all those years."

Malfoy snarled and stood back up. He stalked to the end of the room, collapsing on the long sofa. Too many curses, poisons and lack food, he realized, had accomplished what few thought possible: Snape's iron-trap mind had finally lost all working parts.

He didn't see Snape sneer slightly at his reclining form, or how he settled himself at the hearth side, one hand fixing his collar.

After serious consideration Voldemort decided to try another route. He entered the study where Snape had been left the night before with a large stone basin. Using his wand, he filled it to the point where the clear liquid seemed ready to spill out onto the table. From a pouch, he took a pinch of lilac powder and sprinkled it over the basin, tapping his wand against the side and murmuring, "Intellis en aqua," while he did this.

A small vial was used to collect a sample of the now-glowing liquid. Attached to a thin chain, the vial was hung about the traitor's neck.

"Now, perhaps, I will finally get the answers I need and not the gibberish that I've been shown," the Dark Lord said, leaning over the basin. There was a foggy image of the carpet on the surface of the bowl at the moment. "Severus," he said. "Pay attention, now." A flicker of one of the classrooms came and went. "Tell me about the meetings with Dumbledore, before I make an example of you."

Slowly the scene changed, presenting a blurred image. Voldemort motioned to Wormtail, who gave Severus a short burst of the Cruciatus curse.

"Now," Voldemort hissed softly. "Let us try this again. Tell me about--" He stopped as voices began to drift from the basin's contents, one of which were Dumbledore's. The Dark Lord leaned over the edge of the basin, careful not to disturb the liquid. It appeared to be a staff meeting, but only the Head's were there. McGonagall was pacing back and forth…

"What are we going to do about those troublemakers, Albus?" Minerva was livid, and seemed to have every right to be. "My classroom was full to the brim with pixies!"

"They will spoken to and points deducted--"

"They should be expelled!"

"—if you can prove it was them."

Snape sneered from his place by the hearth. "Headmaster, we can hardly ever prove it was them, yet we always know that they are the ones responsible. Why not use them as an example, a deterrent to the other students."

Albus looked over his glasses at the seated Potions Master. "Severus…innocent until proven guilty." There was a slight bit of rebuke and displeasure in his tone.

Snape acknowledged it with a faint dip of his head, and muttered, "Teaching killers was so much easier," which no seemed to catch…

As the memory lost its clarity, Voldemort slowly straightened, back rigid. Wormtail scurried into the far corner as his lord reached for the traitor's wand. "So," he hissed, drawing his words out. "You think—you dare to play games with Lord Voldemort!"

Snape slowly raised his head, eyes clearly looking at the creature in front of him. "Riddle me this and riddle me that," he recited, tilting his head back and forth mockingly.

Voldemort shrieked a curse, and Snape felt his lower jaw snap in a dozen places. A barrage of curses, including the slicing one that Snape had enjoyed using on James when they were in school, followed suit.

It finally ended with Snape lying half curled, blood staining the rug in a dozen different places.

"Show me what I want to see, before I rend you limb from limb!"

An image flared into sharp focus…

James Potter yanked the youth beyond the thrashing tree's reach before speaking. "What the blazes are you playing at, Snivellus?"

A teenage Snape was shaking, in fury or fear, most likely both. "That was a werewolf," he snarled. "On Hogwarts grounds."

"Yeah, and he could have ripped you limb from limb in a heartbeat if you'd gotten…"

Voldemort turned and hurled another curse, causing Snape to black out from the pain.

He wondered as darkness claimed him whether he'd wake up again.

an: Please, if you're reading , r&r. Thanks a bunch!