NOTES:
Hello friends! I've almost got all of the current chapters transferred. I am currently on chapter 20, looking to post 21 on Sunday on Ao3.
To clear some questions up: Penny did in-fact link herself to a certain horcrux who hangs out in her brother ;). Because Voldemort's horcruxes are pieces of himself, I have imagined and describe this one as a younger TR. As to whether Penny is also linked to LV, that will be explored later. She IS linked to Harry, for reasons we will discover later, but whether she can also see into Voldemort's mind is yet to be answered (after he comes back!) I'll explore the autonomy of the horcrux TR too, as he is definitely set to show up here for quite some time.
Enjoy.! And thank you for reading and your questions 3
Penny's eyes fluttered open. Her brain was sluggish and refused to register what it was seeing. She felt disoriented and stiff, but when she made to turn over and found herself tied to a bed. She tugged at her bonds, heart racing as she tried to remember how she had ended up here. Before she made any progress, her gaze fell on a sleeping figure seated in a chair beside her bed.
His arms were crossed, the man was truly as stiff in his sleep as awake. It was like he was always on the defensive and did not know how to relax. Her thumping heart eased, and relief spread over her. He had come, though why he had tied her to the bed was disturbing and perplexing. It was the kind of thing she had only seen in bad porn and did not dare think of Snape in those kinds of dubious circumstances. Perhaps this was his punishment for her stupidity. And he didn't even know the half of it, (Penny was uncertain she should tell him what transpired in her head. Especially when she wasn't sure what his opinion of her was after their altercation.)
A Death Eater, she thought, looking at his still, pale features. There were many curious emotions that stirred within her as she let the thought of it settle over her. Confusion was the greatest, or perhaps disbelief. She just couldn't understand how, but wasn't sure if it was the-how he could have made that choice or-the how she really knew nothing about Severus Snape. He was much older than her, likely 35ish, and lived much of life before Penny knew him, so of course there were things. Yet, this was much more than a crazy ex or doing acid in your 20's. It also made Penny question why Dumbledore trusted Snape. The mixed emotions frustrated her, so she pushed them aside. She did not want to squander such a rare moment of vulnerability. His head rested to the side and his black hair framed his face nicely. Penny almost had the urge to brush them away from his pale cheek, but remembered, for some nefarious reason, she was tied to the bed.
Snape's breathing was rhythmic, his chest rising and falling beneath his arms. His mouth was relaxed, but the lines around them were a permanent fixture. Penny wondered what he might have looked like when he was her age, what interested him and what led him down this path. He was forever the most interesting person to her, even if she'd never admit it. (His egotistical nature did not need the boost.) For whatever reason, Penny so easily forgot about his worse qualities, though most of their interactions were laced with his condescension. Even still, she felt that behind his facade he cared, and struggled to reconcile that caring with his hatred for her father. She'd seen it, in those moments when his guard fell, like this moment, when she could feel his energy as readily as the pillow beneath her head. The blissful vibration, the safety that passed from him when his skin touched hers, it didn't lie.
Snape stirred, his slim hand rubbing his eyes in an effort to force them into wakefulness. Sitting upright, as though suddenly aware of his lapse in judgement, his eyes snapped to Penny's face. Dark eyes met green, neither wanting to break the silence first.
"I didn't realize you were into bondage," Penny finally blurted out, unable to handle the silence a moment longer.
He rolled his eyes, clearly unamused with her juvenile remark.
He bent forward in his chair and began undoing the knot at her wrist. A wave of his scent hit Penny in the face, bergamot, always bergamot and stale fire. Penny took in the heavenly smell greedily before it moved away to untie her feet. When she was free, she tried to sit up, but floundered like a whale stuck on the beach. Taking pity on her immobility, Snape slipped his hands under her armpits and pulled her upright before moving to retrieve her sling. He made his way to the right side of her bed and took hold of her hand to examine it before returning her arm to its prison.
"You are fortunate I have considerable magical capabilities," he said, scrutinizing her raw flesh.
"I thought I was the arrogant one," Penny snorted.
"Need I impress upon you the severity of the situation, Ms. Potter? Because I assumed you capable of critical thinking after four years of magical training," he said, eyes flashing.
"Alright, you aren't a morning person, duly noted," Penny said, conceding.
Snape's expression remained severe as he replaced her sling and waved his wand to put a pot on the fire. Retrieving a bowl that looked to be full of some balm, he sat on the squishy mattres which sank considerably with the addition of his weight, and coated his hand with it. It smelled strongly of tea tree and citrus. Without warning he began massaging her hand unkindly, working the balm into her tender flesh. Penny winced and tried to reclaim her hand from the horrible burning, but Snape's slender fingers held firm and continued their brutalizing.
"Ow, really, that hurts, like a-lot!"
"You reap the consequences of your foolhardy actions. I've never met a more idiotic, suicidal individual," said Snape, his voice dripping with disdain.
"Don't call me an idiot! If you recall, I ended up in this predicament because of your violent, psychotic-break yesterday!" Penny fumed, her anger bursting to the surface.
"Yesterday?" he repeated, eyes darting to her face, searching for the truth in her minds eye.
The anger was gone, to be replaced with a cold, calculating stare.
"It felt like yesterday. I sent my patronus as soon as I woke up," said Penny, feeling irritated that he ignored the real issue at hand.
"Woke up? Explain yourself. Do you have any inclination where you are, or how you got here?"
"Should I?"
"Do try to use that brain you claim is so brilliant, and answer my questions, in detail!" snapped Snape.
His hands were shaking. It was evident he was on the verge of exploding, but Penny did not care.
"Be obedient Penny, don't question anything Penny. Why should I trust you a Death Eater like you, you pointed your wand at me!" Penny replied scathingly.
"You insolent brat, you understand nothing!" he said in a dangerously low voice, his spit hitting her face with every word.
"BECAUSE YOU REFUSE TO EXPLAIN ANYTHING," Penny roared, grabbing the front of Snape's robes with her left hand and glaring up at him as though willing her gaze to burn him with the emotions she had welled up inside.
The motion didn't quite have the effect she aimed for. She was over a head shorter than the potions master, who towered over her. Penny imagined she didn't look much different than a child to the man, but her anger did not mind, she could not function within reason. Nothing made sense, her heart ached, and her body had more pains than she cared to acknowledge and still the man insisted on making demands of her, like none of the responsibility rested with him. He was an insufferable jackass, and Penny refused to let him bully her.
Snape's face darkened and Penny was certain he would kill her, and for a moment she was terrified of his retribution, but then he did a most peculiar thing. He forced his eyes shut, the lines of his mouth still hard. He remained very still as though he were trying to calm himself. The exercise was comical on such an angry face, but seemed to have the intended effect because when he opened his dark eyes he was no longer shaking.
"You have been missing for two months," he said in a deliberately calm voice.
"That isn't possible," Penny said, her anger crumbling into disbelief.
"I assure you, it is."
The conversation with Tom couldn't have been more than a couple of hours. Her mind understood time, there was no logical way it moved differently there. The only alternative was that Tom did something after their Equivalent Exchange. There had been blackness and who knew how long she remained there with no sense of time. But why had he done it? The black eyes before her were an abyss of horrible possibilities she did not want to confront. It was her hand that now shook, not from anger, but fear.
"That doesn't make any sense. What happened when I lost control?"
"You used a particularly dark spell. Of course you had zero chance of actually landing it, with your thoughts spilling out of you like a toddler mid-tantrum," he said, a look of disgust inching the way over his harsh features as he recalled the memory.
"I reached out to your mind, if you were party to my thoughts, why didn't you answer?" demanded Penny.
Snape looked away from her, anguish coloring his complexion. The kettle on the fire whistled loudly, and he stood briskly, fleeing from her question to remove it and begin meticulously brewing coffee. All the while his face contorting in pain, and Penny unable to utter a single word. She knew he would never answer the question, no matter how she pressed. To preserve himself, he left her with the damning silence.
When he returned, his composure back in place, he jammed a mug in her face, demanding she accept. Irritated, Penny refused the cup pushing it back towards him and turning her face away, nose in the air. Scowling, but making no response, he sat back down in the chair.
"I want to go home, I want to see Harry," Penny demanded.
Her fear was swelling in her chest making her feel as though she were on the verge of a panic attack. She wanted the safety of her twin, to lay her head on his shoulder. Harry, how had he suffered while she was lost? She needed to tell him how sorry she was, beg him to help her make sense of it all.
The utterance of Harry's name brought a sneer to Snape's face. He took a sip of his scalding coffee before responding.
"Poor, self-important Harry Potter is fine. Basking in the attention from the Triwizard Tournament without a care in the world. You waste your worry on him when it's you who will be handed over to the custody of the Ministry of Magic the moment we return to Hogwarts," spat Snape.
"You can't let them, I refuse to go!"
"Let them! The ministry is at Hogwarts for the tournament, did you delude yourself into thinking no one would inquire when popular Penny didn't showing up to class!" he hissed.
"So you're just going to sell me out," she said, angrily.
"Me, sell you out!" he shouted, getting to his feet and throwing his mug in the opposite direction. It hit the cauldron and shattered. "Who showed up and pulled you from the brink of death! I've spent the last two months searching for you while everyone else fawned over your dunce of a brother. Wake up, Penny! You're just the other Potter, ' ," he finished, vehemently, chest heaving and face maniacal.
Without her consent, hot tears rolled down her face. The other Potter, she would forever be just that. No matter how hard Penny worked, how much she achieved, she was always in the shadow of her twin. She would get no special treatment like he. She was a freak, possessing a dark magic she could not control. Of course she would be shipped off to the ministry, no parent in their right mind would want her in class with their children. Perhaps they speculated, while giving Harry his scar, Voldemort gave her evil magic. No one could say otherwise, not even Penny, after all, she knew nothing about her own powers.
Snape was right, in his cruelty he was trying to show her the truth of her predicament. He was always there for her, the only one there. Who else cared, beyond a shallow interest, what happened to her? Who's day was any different without her these last two months? Nothing would have stopped her from searching for Harry, but it was Snape who stood before her now, trying desperately to prepare her for the reality waiting for her, not Harry. Snape hadn't taken her back to Hogwarts when he found her freezing in the snow, he erected this tent and nursed her like Lily would have.
The weight of Penny's loneliness, fear, and disbelief cascaded inwardly, and she sobbed unapologetically. Snape looked awkward, peering around as though the tent walls would tell him what he should do. With a resigned sigh he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her wordlessly. Then he slid her to the side of the bed to make room for himself and sat beside her. Arms and legs crossed, he laid back against the headboard, and just remained. They simply sat, bodies somewhat squished together on the single mattress, not looking at each other. He said nothing, but Penny did not need him to, he was there for her like he always had been. He did not condemn her, but clung to the quietness of the forest with her, doing what he could to stave off the impending misery, even if it was only for a moment.
Penny's sobs eased as she gulped in the smell of bergamot. The warmth of Snape's frame next to hers filled her with calmness. What was to come did not matter. Snape found her, and she trusted he would always find her-they would find each other, because in her most desperate moments, it was his presence she always sought. She called for him with her patronus because she believed he would come, even after such an awful fight. Penny trusted in Severus Snape more than anyone else, even if she was unable to verbally admit it. She would forever be magnetized to the man.
The rising and falling of their chests was the only sound for what felt like hours. Neither stirred, fearful to bring reality crashing in. The world waited beyond the tent, and it was as if they just never left it wouldn't have to come. There was a contentment both of them clung to. Things were going to change, bringing the crushing weight of how important they were to each other. All of the time they took for granted, the bickering that filled hours of their lives, it was falling away from them like a hand trying desperately to hold onto water.
It was Snape who finally broke the silence. "Get up, we're leaving now."
Penny nodded, and turned to sink her nose into the chest of his robes. She soaked in the comforting smell, committing it to memory before rising. Snape rose stiffly after her, he retrieved a large cloak from a chair and wrapped it around her and exited the tent. They stood silently in the snow for a minute, staring at the tent, the moonlight glimmering softly on it. Without bothering to wave it away with his wand, Snape left the tent in tact, as though to leave a memento of something neither of them could return to. He grasped her shoulder and turned on his heel and they disapparated, appearing a moment later in the middle of Hogsmede, Hogwarts castle looming in the distance, the windows glowing from the candles within.
Penny looked into Snape's anguished face and knew she could not ask anymore of him. She could not make him drag her to her imprisonment. Squaring her shoulders and setting her jaw, she marched past him towards Hogwarts, squeezing his hand momentarily as she went.
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart
That's what the sorting hat sung the year she was sorted into Gryffindor; when she had looked up at the staff table and green eyes met black for the first time. There was shock and bewilderment in them, but the allure of the Potions Master was the desperate hope that was so picture perfect on his face. In that moment their destinies forever became ensnared, because Penny could not stop searching for the dark eyes of Severus Snape, and he could not help but hope every time he looked back at Penny.