Chapter Four

She should have eaten the brunch. With no breakfast, lunch, and so far, no dinner, she was starving. Of course, the food given them before the weddings had taken place was horrible. She should have eaten the rich, bountiful banquet that had been sat so generously before her. She told herself not to be ridiculous, that she had been in too deep a haze to even think about eating. She vaguely remembered staring at a small pile of scrambled eggs and a bit of fruit, but not eating them. So far her wedding day had been spent sitting on a large bed with satin bedclothes in the quarters of Severus Snape. He had come in a few hours ago to check on her, telling her that if she needed anything to ask the House Elves for it. Luna had seen no House Elves, or means of summoning them. Her stomach gave a growl.

The room she was in was large. It held a sofa and winged chair near a small fireplace, a large counter covered in cauldrons and potions ingredients, and a dining area of sorts. Luna could not imagine why he would need a dining area when he could easily walk down the hall and eat his meals with the rest of the house. A large wardrobe sat next to a door, which snooping had told her was a bathroom. She had gone in there several times to get water or use the lavatory. She was bored, so she had begun listing all the species of beetles she knew. She had gotten as far as Japanese beetle before Snape billowed in. He shut the door quietly, then began rubbing his eyes. He walked up to her and stood for a moment, looking annoyed. He took her left hand in his and pulled the ring her father had given her off her finger. She was slightly amazed, having never been able to take it off herself after it was given to her. He then replaced it with another ring. It was more extravagant than her old one, with a large diamond and two rubies on either side of it, in a silver band.

"It's lovely," she said, feeling the awkwardness of the silence.

Snape did not respond. He went into the bathroom a few minutes later, taking a moment to pull out some clothes from the wardrobe. He came back out a little while later, dressed in ragged pyjamas made of black wool. Luna thought what a waste satin sheets were if you wore itchy wool pyjamas. Of course, wool pyjamas were better than none at all, which was what she had. After getting settled into his bed comfortably, Snape looked at her questioningly for a moment before realization hit his face. With a wave of his wand his wardrobe was opened and a set of his pyjamas came flying into her lap. Then, he rolled over and turned off the lamp.

She felt her way to the bathroom and changed into them. The bottoms were too large to wear properly, but she would not go out without them. She began to feel a ball of tension rise into her. Tiny, inexcusable hopes fluttered around her slow, dazed mind. Maybe he won't want to...Maybe he can't...Maybe he...What? Maybe he what? Luna dismissed the hopes as highly improbable, though she wondered why he had given her pyjamas if he was simply going to take them off. She walked into the inky blackness of his room and stood in the light of the bathroom.

"Professor Snape?" she questioned into the darkness.

"I'm no longer a Professor, you twit. Call me Severus, if you must call me something," came his mumbled response.

"Well, erm, I was just wondering...well, where do I sleep?"

"In the bed...And don't worry. I won't." Luna felt slightly releived, having a pretty firm idea of what he wouldn't do. She edged her way into the darkness, blinded by it. She climbed into the large bed and faced the wall, not wanting to even look in his direction. She felt too uncomfortable to sleep. She was nervous and worried that maybe he had meant something else...

----

Snape judged by her breathing that it was almost two in the morning before the girl went to sleep. He didn't sleep at all, but not for the reasons she had stayed up for. He wasn't tired. His whole day had been wasted with Voldemort, trying to convince him to anull the marriage. He had only recieved a short Crucio and was sent out of the room.

He heard the minutes tick by. The grandfather clock chimed. One...Two...Three. He decided to get up and finish the potion he had been experimenting with. At six, the girl latched securely to the bed by invisible, magic chains, he went to breakfast, where Voldemort decided to punish those who had made mistakes over the past few weeks. Snape simply watched, having been punished already, last night. Almost everyone got some form of magical torture.

When he got back, the girl was spread out on the floor, his pyjamas riding dangerously low on her hips. She had apparently jumped off the bed and been jerked to the floor by his restraints. He felt a smirk crawl onto his face. She was out cold. He pointed his wand at her and she woke with a gasp. She began squirming and clawing her skin. the pale nature of her skin caused red welts to pop up. She clawed at her arms, her stomach, her legs. He almost laughed at her suffering. The Invisible Bug Curse was always interesting. He removed a few minutes later and she stopped clawing her skin. She had a bruise on her forehead from the fall and a few bleeding scratches.

She may be a nuisance, he thought, but she is my...ugh...wife. He would not allow his wife to be faulty in any way. He healed the bruise and cast a spell that caused the welts and scratches to melt into her skin until it was without blemish.

"I'm ordering your clothing today. Until it comes in, you will wear this," Snape said, putting one of his old robes on her and shrinking it a bit to fit her better. "You are not to leave this room unless you are with me. No one will come into this room without me. Do you understand?"

"Yes..." Luna said breathily. She wondered if he forgot that she was chained to the bedpost. At that moment her stomach gave a loud lurch, groaning horrendously because of continued hunger. She quickly covered her stomach with her arms, hoping to muffle the sound, but it was too late. He had heard. He looked at her loathingly, then gave a loud, annoyed sigh.

"Hungry?" he said silkily. She remained silent, but her stomach did all the talking neccassary. "I asked you a question, Lovegood."

"My name is not Lovegood anymore," she stated plainly. It was simply a fact.

"Fine. I asked you a question, Luna," he said, a disgusted face creeping across his features. He would not call her by his surname. There was no way anyone could make him short of the Imperius Curse. He sat at the table and wrote the robe request out on a bit of parchment. After closing it and sealing it with the Death Eater crest, he sent it out on an owl to be given to the same woman who had sized Luna's wedding dress. that done, he went to his potions, stirring them, checking color and consistency, starting a few new ones. The need for medical potions never ended in the manor. He was constantly brewing Pepper-Up Potions, laxitive potions, not to mention all of those meant to heal wounds of varying sizes and seriousness. He had practically become a nurse. Anger began to seep into his mind. Voldemort had been cruel to make him make these potions. so many, so little time, in such great amount. And then he had made him marry his own student, for entertainment! He would not produce a child through her. Not one single child. It would teach Voldemort not to toy with his mental well-being. He slung a spell at the chain on the girl's leg, lengthening it so she could use the lavatory.

"Yes. I am hungry. I haven't eaten two days."

"Fine. For your useless complaining, you won't eat in three days. When the time alotted is over, you will be allowed food."

"That is not fair, Prof- Severus!"

"It seems perfectly logical to me," he said, and whisked out of the room with a tray of potions in his arms to place in the medicine cabinet in the main hall.

Luna sat, chained to the bed still, in his robes, starving. Her stomach gave another growl.

"Yeah, yeah. Hungry?" she mimicked. She got water from the sink and drank it down, then chased it with some more water, hoping to dull her hunger with it. Then she went over to the counter covered in potions. He took more care of them than he did his living, breathing effing wife! She stomped the ground angrily. She was sick of the room. She was sick of him. She was sick of water. She would soon be hungry enough to eat the invisible chain on her leg.

There was a knock on the door. Luna wondered who it could be, and remembered that he had told her no one could come in without him being there. If she opened that door, she might be killed by some Death Eater. Well, it would serve him right. He shouldn't starve his own wife, no matter how much they may dislike each other. She crept up to the door and peeked out of it. There he stood, in all his stuck up, Slytherin glory. Draco Malfoy. She opened the door wider.

"Draco?"

"Luna. How are you doing? Erm...I mean...uh..." Draco stuttered, reddening as he realized his mistake.

"Fine. I'm doing fine," she responded tersely.

"Right...erm...Are you...alright?"

"Quite."

"Good...good. So...Can I come in?" Draco asked at last. Luna pulled back the door and allowed him passage. Little defiances like this one would, perhaps, help her better wile away her time. He walked in regally, but Luna was quite sure walking regally was more habit than gloating. He looked about the room, examining the sticky table, paper strewn floor, and haphazard potions counter.

"Snape lives here? In this? It's a mess! Snape living in a mess. Imagine that," he said, chuckling.

"If I had known I would be having a guest, I would have straightened up," a silky smooth voice uttered from the door. Both Luna and Draco jumped in surprise and looked at the door. There stood Snape. He looked quite tired and aggravated. He threw a glance at Draco, sweeping to the door, telling him to get out. He did, and quickly, but not without slight reluctance. As he shut the door, he glanced at Luna. She was looking down demurely to the floor. He shut the door with a soft click.

----

"I told you no one was allowed in this room without me. It was one of the only rules I set for you, Luna. I expected even you, a mindless muggle lover, to be able to obey them. Do you have any idea what that little excursion could have cost my reputation?What if someone had seen him come in, other than myself? Don't you know what people would think?" Snape said, his face tinged the slightest shade of pink. It reminded Luna of vanilla icing with a drop of red food dye in it. His eyes flashed. That reminded her of a knife covered in chocolate. All food, for the sake of Michelangelo! Her stomach rumbled, but it was very quiet. He didn't hear it.

"I have no idea what I can do with you! I get tortured because of you, and you break my rules, you injure yourself, and you invite social ruin into my very bedroom!"

"I can't have an affair, Severus. It is not physically possible. If I tried, Draco might be injured for a few days. You know this, of course. And what do you mean tortured because of me? What have I done?" Luna said.

"Nothing of your concern. And I know you can't have an affair, but some other, more ignorant people in this manor don't," he answered, the red food dye leaving his vanilla icing face.

"If I'm causing you to be tortured, then surely it is my concern. Why do you have to be so stubborn?" she cried, stamping her foot. Snape bit back a laugh.

"I don't think I've ever seen you angry, Miss...Luna," Snape said.

"Well, I wish I could say the same about you, Severus."

"Stop that."

"You told me to call you Severus."

"You know very well that you don't have to hiss the word out like that. You are not a snake, not in any way."

"Oh, but you are," she spat, then threw herself onto the satin sheets, covered her head with the blanket, and became very still. Snape stood, hands clenched at his sides, fuming.

She is infuriating. I don't have to put up with this. I could just dispose of her, kill her while she slept--

That would not be a good idea, Severus.

Voldemort. He was intruding on his thoughts. He quickly threw up his mental barriers, focusing detirminedly on not allowing him to see his intermost thoughts, intrude on his musings.

"We'll continue this when I get back, Luna. I am not done with you yet!" Snape yelled at the lump under the blankets and turned to the door, going to Voldemort's quarters. Luna didn't hear him though. She was fast asleep.

----

A/N: So what did you think? For those of you who take the time to read these little notes, I was wondering if you could, perhaps, go read my story, "Fading". You might want to read "Burning" first, but it is not really neccassary, especially if you don't like torture. But please, a few of you, could you go read the story, and review the most recently updated chappie? It has a little request at the bottom, and it would really mean a lot to me...

The next chapter of this story might be slow in coming. I think I'm running out of juice. Of course, now that I've told you this, the next chapter will be out within the week. I have an obstinate muse. Review!