Ch. 10 – Ginny's Addiction

A month went by too quickly. Severus noticed the usual air of excitement filling the student body when Winter Holidays began approaching, but to Severus the holidays only elicited one feeling – fear. By the time the New Year came, they would have only four short months before Voldemort launched his attack. These could be his last months with Ginny. Waiting was so much worse than not knowing.

His eyes moved to where Ginny was helping a nervous sixth year student carefully add the lacewings to her Polyjuice Potion. Ginny looked up from her work, their eyes meet, and Severus smiled. She always seemed to be able to tell when he was watching her now, no matter how subtle he though he was being.

An audible gasp reached his ears. He scowled at the perpetrator. You would think a smiling Severus Snape was the scariest thing in the world, the way the react, Snape thought bitterly. Forget the Death Eaters or impending war with Voldemort; my potions professor smiled, I'm terrified.

He shook his head in disgust and began making his rounds through the sixth year N.E.W.T. class. "You have two minutes left in this period. That should be plenty of time for you to clean up and store your projects properly. Remember, I want a carefully written progress report on your long-term practical on my desk by tomorrow morning at 9 am. It should be at least twelve inches in length and should detail precisely what you have accomplished thus far, what you have left to do, any problems you anticipate, and any you have run into so far. I want clear concise writing – I have no patience for Shakespeare; brevity is the key. No late papers will be accepted!" With timing born from years of teaching the bell rang as he finished speaking. "Class dismissed."

Ginny watched the class exit, a smirk on her face. As the door closed he saw he make a slight motion with her hand. The lock clicked into place.

"You're becoming quite adept at wandless magic."

"All due to your training, Sev," she crossed the room quickly, took his face into her hands and kissed him tenderly. She pulled away slowly, staring into his eyes. "You love Shakespeare," she said voice filled with accusation.

"I know that, and you know that, but they don't… and I don't intend on them ever finding out," his eyes twinkled mischievously.

His hands found her hips and he pulled her to him. They kissed tentatively at first, then with increasing need; their tongues probed each others mouths as if locked in a fierce struggle for dominance. Severus' hand roamed her body, caressing, squeezing, and leaving trails of fire on her body. A small involuntary moan escaped the back of Ginny's throat. The heat of desire flooded Severus' veins. He growled and pulled Ginny closer, as if wishing he could mould their bodies together.

Ginny pulled away suddenly and his body demanded to feel hers again. She looked at him, lips full from their kissing, cheeks red, eye consumed by desire. "If we don't go soon, we'll miss lunch."

"Bugger to lunch."

"Severus," she said as a warning.

He sighed and reluctantly took a step back attempting to distance himself from his desire. "Yes, I know, mustn't rouse suspicions. You go on; I'll be up in a minute." She nodded and left the room. "I love you," he whispered to the closed door.

Ginny ran her hands through her hair. She was so tired lately. Between learning the Dark Arts from Voldemort, defense with Severus, teaching, and her apprenticeship, she was exhausted. The expenditure of magical energy in itself was demanding, but on top of that she rarely had time to sleep. She was more than looking forward to the winter holidays and a break from teaching.

"Ginny?" came Voldemort's voice. She snapped back to reality with force.

"Sorry, dear," she said stifling a yawn. "I'm exhausted."

Tom frowned, his eyes showing concern. "I understand. Let's have one last try at casting nonverbally for the night."

She inhaled deeply and nodded. Speaking in Parseltongue had been difficult, but thinking in it was worse. She had attempted the spell in Egyptian nonverbally, and it had worked; it just wasn't as powerful. It seemed there was something about speaking in Parseltongue that caused a surge of magical power through her body.

She took herself back to her first year at Hogwarts, remembering what it was like to speak Parseltongue, to think Parseltongue. Nn Hna Ska, she thought. The air pressure changed, the world seemed to compress. With a flick of her wand, the spell hit the target across the yard. Ginny felt the last reserve of her energy being sucked out of her and sent with the spell. She shuddered against the sudden cold as the now ever-present warmth of Black Lotus left her veins. Pain seized her body as her internal organs convulsed; she fell to her knees as her stomach began to empty its entire contents on the ground. Her every nerve seemed to be screaming for Black Lotus.

Voldemort was there in an instant, arms wrapped around her shoulders. "Ginny, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I need it. I need it now, Tom."

"What?"

"Black Lotus."

"But it's too soon for a second dose. You have another month before…"

"Now!" she shouted, fighting the dry heaves racking her body.

"Accio Black Lotus," he said softly. She grabbed the vial from his hand the instant it was there, uncorked it unceremoniously, and drank every drop. Her body shuddered as the convulsions stopped. She could feel the liquid warmth of the lotus slide down her esophagus and into the pit of her stomach. Slowly, it began to spread through her limbs.

She turned on Voldemort. "I hope you're happy, I'm as good as dead – I'm addicted." She stood slowly and began to make her way to Riddle Manor.

"Ginny, wait! We'll find a cure!" he said jogging to catch up with her.

"How do you propose to do that, Tom? In thousands of years, the greatest Potions Masters in the world have failed to find a cure to Black Lotus addiction! Do you honestly think that just because Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Dark Lord, needs one in order to save his Queen, a cure will fall from the sky? Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, this plant is a curse from the Gods? You may be the most awesome wizard in the history of the world, but even Lord Voldemort can't control the Gods!"

She could sense his anger rising; she could sense his backhand coming, even before she saw it. In one swift motion she caught his arm, his hand less than an inch from her face.

"How dare you speak to me that way?" he raged.

Her brown eyes locked with his red… both cold with anger. "I'm returning to Hogwarts, Tom. If you need me, just summon."

Unbidden the tears were falling as Ginny sat on her bed. What was she going to do? Death was almost certain, now. Sure, death was always certain, but not now, not so soon. She had no time to devote to finding a cure, not now anyway. Perhaps during the Winter Holidays…

"Ginny? Are you ok in there?" came Snape's voice with a knock.

"Severus…" her breath caught. "I'm fine. Just give me a few minutes and I'll be ready to make the rounds."

"Take your time," he said softly.

Damn it all to hell! She wiped the tears away quickly. One thing for sure, she couldn't tell Severus. It would destroy the already fragile relationship they were building. She cast a spell to hide the fact she'd been crying and threw open the door. Severus eyed her suspiciously.

"Are you sure you're quite alright?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason at all." They began their rounds in the dungeons. About halfway to the Great Hall, Severus stopped and opened the doors to a broom closet. "Ms. Zabini… it's past curfew, please find your way to the Slytherin common room; as for you Mr. Thompson, a word of caution, the women in her family have strange knack for 'loosing' mates. Please return to the Ravenclaw dorms. 20 points from Ravenclaw."

They continued on their rounds. "It's hard to believe she's Blaise's cousin. They're so different."

"You'll get used to that… same last name, same House, but no resemblance in features or actions. It's more common than you think."

"That's hardly fair, you know," Ginny said softly.

"What?"

"You took points from Ravenclaw, but not Slytherin."

"He should be able to control himself better."

"Oh really?" she said with a smirk. She glanced slyly around to make sure no one was coming. "Should he?"

"Yes. I mean she's not totally inno…" he was interrupted as Ginny pinned him to the wall and began to kiss him, grinding into him. He barely stifled a moan as her mouth traveled from his to nibble on his ear. She placed kisses down his neck before stopping at the base to nibble gentle. A low growl escaped his throat. She pulled away from him suddenly.

"You should be able to control yourself better, Professor."

He glared at her in response and reluctantly began to continue on their rounds. "I see your point… 10 points from Slytherin."

"Come now, Professor, that's still not fair. Should I give another demonstration as to how the poor boy may have been ensnared?"

"Alright, alright… 10 more points form Slytherin. Happy now?" he said glaring at her.

"Now, don't get all snarky with me… I was not the one who was being unfair, now was I?" They finished their search of the castle fairly uneventfully, and ended at Severus' chambers.

Ginny collapsed into a large, cushy armchair near the fire as Severus poured a glass of wine for himself. He regarded her from across the room. She seemed tired; she was pale, her white skin resembled a thin piece of bleached parchment lying over a white linen sheet, it seemed thin, and there were dark circles under her eyes.

"You need to sleep," he stated simply.

"I am more aware of that than anyone," she said stifling a yawn.

"Well… go on then, back to your room."

She shook her head forcefully. "We need to talk, Severus"

His heart skipped a beat. 'We need to talk' are the four words that every person fears hearing. "About?"

"I've been thinking… when do intend on revealing your true loyalties?"

"I haven't thought that far," he admitted slowly.

"I thought so," she said with a sigh. "Severus, I have a problem. Voldemort has been training me to kill Harry and Dumbledore. He feared that an Advada Kedavra curse would not be powerful enough to kill them, so he has been training me to kill using an ancient Egyptian spell. I know that he will not attack until I am by his side; I have become his weapon. You, he will attack whether you are there or not, assuming you will join the fight on his side when you can do so without revealing your loyalties to Dumbledore. This puts me in considerable danger – not from the members of the Order that fight, but the Aurors. Particularly the ones who aren't fully aware of all the Order is doing."

"Don't worry about that now. Everything will work out; your true loyalties will be known to all who need to know," he crossed to the chair across from her and sat his eyes taking her in. He felt the familiar tightening of his throat as he fought thoughts of loosing her.

"How can you be certain of that?"

"Trust me, Ginny. Dumbledore will not put you into unnecessary harm." I won't let him, he thought to himself.

"And if he considers it necessary?"

"What has happened to cause you to become so grim suddenly? Not even a month ago you were the one, assuring me that nothing bad would happen to you and now…"

"It's nothing. I've just been working too hard. I'm looking forward to the winter holidays so that I can spend my days working on what I need to work on and not teaching those brats," she said changing the subject.

He frowned, but followed the subject change. "Careful, Ginny, you're starting to sound like me. I thought you liked teaching."

"It might be more tolerable if it weren't for those damn Slytherins," she said her lips turning into a half grin and her eyes starting to sparkle.

"I never have a problem with them. It's always those damn Gryffindors that give me trouble," he said with a coy grin. Damn, she was forcing him to take the bait.

"And just what do they do that gives you so much trouble, Professor," she asked playfully slinking out of her chair and onto his lap.

"They manage to break all the rules and never get into trouble," he said sulking.

"That sounds awfully Slytherin to me." Her finger traced heat down his chest and he inhaled sharply.

"No, no, no. You've got it all wrong. Members of Gryffindor break the rules out in the open where everyone can see them, but because they are so noble and brave, they are forgiven, while members of Slytherin at least have the audacity to hide their rule breaking."

"Oh, you mean they slither around in the dark, hiding their true selves."

"No, I mean that they break rules with finesse, with style, and have the skill to charm their unwary victims into believing they've never done anything wrong."

"If that's true, then how do they ever get caught?"

"The best never do," he said with a wicked grin, leaning in to claim her lips with his.

Her left arm was on fire. Ginny sat up in bed heart pounding, body drenched in sweat. Severus always managed to get her all worked up and then send her off to her room for sleep. The man was starting to infuriate her. Of course it wasn't always his fault… sometimes she was the one doing the stopping.

She was brought back to reality as the pain flowed through her left arm and into her body. She glanced at the clock. What the hell could he want a 5 in the morning?

She dressed quickly and penned a short note:

Sev,
Been summoned. Be back ASAP.
Gin

She slipped it under his door and port-keyed to Riddle Manor.

Ginny came back to reality with a sickening lurch. Voldemort stood inches from her arrival spot.

"What took you so long?"

"I was still asleep," she said softly.

"You should know that you are very lucky I didn't kill you as soon as you arrived. If you were another of my followers you'd be dead. How dare you speak to me the way you did last night and leave before you were dismissed? Do you honestly think Ginerva Molly Weasley that you are above reproach? You are sadly mistaken! I would not hesitate to kill you in an instant. You aren't carrying my heir, yet, and until you are, you mean nothing to me. Any pureblood whore can become my queen if I so desire," his voice held an edge of malice generally reserved for Harry Potter, and his eyes flashed red menacingly.

"If any whore will do, then why not kill me now?" Oh hell, when are you going to learn to keep your mouth shut Ginny?

"You still have a purpose. You've progressed quickly in your training," he said turning his back to her, and crossing the study. "You will be spending Christmas here."

Ginny felt as if her throat were closing in on her. "I can't," she replied softly.

He turned on her. "You must."

"My family expects me at the Burrow. I have to go there."

"Fine then you will report here the day after Christmas, and begin to take your rightful place as my queen – my bed."

"As you wish, my lord."

A/N: Eeek! I'm sorry it took so long for me to update. I went on vacation and then school started…. And this was a REALLY difficult chapter for me to write. I hate putting Ginny through this much, but it really is a necessary evil (that's very Slytherin of me isn't it?). I'll do my best to update as quickly as I can with school. I'm farther along in this story than I've gotten on anything other than short stories and poems. Since I've never actually finished writing anything other than short stories and poems I'm afraid that I'm going to stop writing this. I would hate for that to happen, because I'm in love with this story. To make this short: I NEED motivation. I'm craving it. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! PLEASE!

Thanks to my wonderful reviewers for last chapter: Velvet Storm, serena, and madmissymel!