Author's Note: I'm back! I'm terribly sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I have a good excuse though… I've been super busy, with Les Miserables and troubles with friends, and boys, and just… stuff. Life happens, you know?
In other news, I've been chugging away at a new project for FanFiction, another Harry Potter. It is proving to be angsty and sad, and keeps me busy during calculus when I get bored or inspired (funny how those two coincide for me, eh?). I just wish I could listen to music whilst writing it, but my teacher definitely wouldn't go for that idea. It's a pity, really; that could get the creative juices going quite well. Alas.
This chapter was like pulling teeth. Lots and lots of teeth. And doing fillings. No root canals, but it was a near thing. I just… I'm not great at writing this sort of Voldy-scene. He's so… what's the word I'm looking for… predictable. You have to write him a certain way or it sounds craptacular, and it gets me down.
I hope you enjoy it; it took me a while to get it right. And now to end this epic note with a disclaimer!
DISCLAIMER: I only borrow them to play with in my little mind. I'll put them back…maybe. Ha, just kidding. JKR and her team of lawyers would kick my butt if I didn't. Because SHE owns Harry Potter and all the bells and whistles that go along with that universe, not me.
VIII
'Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!'
'Stand aside, you silly girl … stand aside, now …'
'Lily, come away from him, you can have more children, just please step away from the boy and He'll spare you!'
'Not Harry! Please … have mercy … have mercy …'
'Lily, listen to me, I'm begging you to step aside!'
'She has had her chance, Severus. Leave her be, her decision is made.'
'No! Reconsider Lily, please…'
'Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead –'
'As you wish, Lily. AVADA KEDAVRA!'
The Dark Lord's high-pitched cackle rang in Snape's ears as he shot up in bed, panting from the dream. If only it wasn't real… if only it didn't happen that way… Snape thought as he fought to control his breathing.
"Hold on a minute, what happened last night?" he wondered out loud. "Wormtail, kitchen, Firewhiskey… oh there's my problem." He shrugged, and looked down. His sleeping attire consisted of yesterday's pants and one sock, and the rest of his clothes were strewn around his room. He sighed and wondered if he'd ever see the other sock again, then got clean clothes on and went downstairs.
Wormtail was up and making breakfast when Snape emerged from his bedroom. Apparently being Stupefied and left to recover on the cold kitchen floor didn't improve the cringing rat's disposition, because he glared at Snape as he sat down at the table. Wormtail practically threw the burnt toast and cold oatmeal at him, and then sat down with his own meal of slightly less burnt toast and oatmeal.
"Sleep well, vermin?" Snape sneered venomously.
"No thanks to you," Wormtail retorted.
"I could have left you in the basement, be grateful."
"Oh yes, I'll be grateful to you for also forbidding me to enter that girl's cell to have some fun. You have her in a drugged sleep, she wouldn't even notice." Wormtail's voice took on an even whinier tone, if possible.
"Silence! I will not allow anyone to have any… fun with the Granger girl. Do you really think she will tell us anything useful if you decide to rape her?" Snape's face twisted into a frightening scowl, and Wormtail unconsciously shrank away from him.
"B-b-but Severus, she hasn't t-told us anything yet anyways, what's the h-harm?"
"You disgust me." Snape's tone was one of finality, and Wormtail realized he wouldn't win this fight. Not this morning at least.
Snape's Mark began to burn, not like when he was being summoned, more like when the Dark Lord was near at hand.
"Severus? What's happening?"
"Can't you feel your arm, you dolt? The Dark Lord is approaching the house."
Wormtail squeaked in terror. Snape was inclined to agree. We haven't reported any progress with Miss Granger, and he's coming to investigate. Oh sweet Merlin, what if he recognizes the spell and calls me on it? Snape forced himself to remain calm and push any thoughts and memories that could get him killed or worse into the deep recesses of his mind, where even the Dark Lord would have trouble locating them behind his Occulumency shields.
The front door clicked open and the Dark Lord stepped into the house, followed closely by Nagini, who departed from her master's side to explore the house. The two men in the kitchen stood and bowed as Voldemort entered the kitchen.
"Ah, Severus, Wormtail. How good it is to see you again after so long." His red eyes shone with a slightly deranged glow, which did not bode well for either of them. Wormtail spoke up,
"My Lord, I am so pleased to see you –"
"Silence, rat! I do not wish to speak with you. Severus, have you made any progress with the Mudblood?"
"No, Master. I believe she would not react well to the more crude methods of interrogation, and as such have been hesitant to use them. Thus far, I have kept her drugged downstairs." He felt Voldemort pushing into his mind to seek deception and other details. Upon finding what he sought, the Dark Lord laughed.
"So, Wormtail wishes to take the maidenhood of this little Mudblood?"
Wormtail looked slightly hopeful and said, "Yes Master."
"I'm afraid you will be disappointed. I planned on allowing Severus the honour of desecrating her body. You will have to wait until the next Revel to have a Mudblood or Muggle of your own, my rat-like servant."
Severus felt his breakfast attempting to return but quelled it swiftly. An idea occurred to him.
"My Lord, if I may make a suggestion?"
"Of course."
"Perhaps I should attempt to win the girl over. She is a very trusting student, if she believes I am going to rescue her or set her free, she may speak to me."
The Dark Lord looked like he was actually considering it. It's a good sign. Perhaps I can save this one… Voldemort interrupted his thoughts.
"This plan has merit, Severus. I am quite glad I have some faithful followers with some intelligence. I can always find those whose forte is brute strength, but intellect is highly valued."
"Thank you, Master."
He looked at Wormtail and grimaced. "Oh Wormtail, what am I to do with you? Have you been a help to Severus, or have you been too busy lusting after the girl? I will have to remove you from the temptation." He levelled his wand at him. "But first, Crucio!"
Wormtail crumpled to the floor screaming and thrashing. Voldemort ended the curse, and Wormtail lay on the floor twitching weakly.
"Let that be a lesson to you, my pet; never assume you have my favour. You may be unpleasantly surprised, as today." He turned back to Severus. "Now, you have my permission to do what you will with the girl. Do not kill her unless she is proving too difficult, but in that case make sure her body is deposited on the Weasley's doorstep." Here he smiled, which was more frightening than his grimace. "I'm sure they will be pleased to see her."
All Snape could do was nod and murmur "As you wish, my Lord. I am your humble servant."
Voldemort turned to him again and said, "Oh, before I go, Severus; you have my permission to use the Malfoy cottage to hold the Mudblood. I hear it is quite beautiful, and secluded. We wouldn't want her to escape, or for anyone to find the pair of you." He grinned and his red eyes pierced into his mind with the message: Do not even contemplate setting her free, my boy. I would be very disappointed in you if she managed to escape your care. He spoke again: "Come Wormtail, you and I must leave Severus to his packing up for his trip with his student." With a hiss, he turned and exited the kitchen with Wormtail limping behind. Nagini returned to her master and they left Spinner's End.
After he was sure they were gone, Snape let out a sigh of relief as he sat down. That bought me a little more time. The use of Malfoy's cottage is an interesting development. The Dark Lord trusts me enough to let me stay with the girl but not enough to let me keep her here where those who can rescue her would find her much more easily. Now, to see to Miss Granger…
He got out of his chair and headed toward the stairs, then hesitated. I should pack before I collect the girl. Who knows what she'll do if I go down there? He nodded to himself and went upstairs to pack a trunk.
• • •
Hermione paced her cell, fed up with her lack of memory and her stiff muscles. How long have I been here? I can't remember how many times I've fallen asleep here, but it seems like such a long time since I've seen another human being Hermione thought.
"Why am I here? What have I done wrong? Why can't I remember anything? Was there anything to even remember?" she thought aloud, her voice cracking a bit from disuse.
She heard a door open somewhere and stood still, scarcely daring to breathe. Soft footfalls approached her door, and she heard a dull thud.
"Excuse me, Miss Granger, are you awake?" said a deep voice. Her eyes widened as she recognized that voice from the dream about the black cat and grey rat. She was so startled that she didn't think before she spoke,
"Are you the black cat?"
"Pardon me!"
"I recognize your voice, but it was in a dream about a big black cat which was you, and a scrawny little rat with a squeaky voice. So my question is valid to me, as I have never seen you in my life…that I remember."
He laughed and said, "You were always perceptive, Miss Granger. I am quite sure you know who I am, somewhere deep in your subconscious." Here he paused for a moment, then went on. "I do not intend to harm you, and I hope you do not wish to harm me. I will be opening the door in a moment, but I would like to make it clear to you that I can defend myself should you attempt to attack me."
"Why would I want to attack you?" Hermione was thoroughly confused. Then: "Hey wait a minute, did you lock me in here? Is that why I'd want to hurt you?"
He sighed and said, "I have been your caretaker here. I did not capture you, nor did I particularly wish for you to be in my care, but better me than …others." Hermione could feel how uncomfortable he was with the topic, so she changed the subject.
"Do I get to come out now? This cell is too small to even pace in."
"Yes, I am taking you to a …colleague's summer home, we will be safer there."
"Right now all I want to do is get out of here and get clean, but when we get there I fully expect an explanation for all of this."
The door slowly creaked open. Standing there was a very tall man dressed impeccably in black, with black hair and black eyes. She looked down at her own clothes and grimaced. Her once white shirt was now grimy, and her jeans were slightly torn in the knees on top of the dirt. She did a double take when she looked back at him, and cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow. He seemed uncomfortable with that also, and asked irritably,
"Is there some sort of problem with my robes?"
"Yes. Why on earth are you wearing robes? Are you one of those crazy Dungeons and Dragons nuts who takes the game far too seriously, or thinks they're in the Lord of the Rings? Because, I'm sorry to break it to you, but magic doesn't exist." She rolled her eyes at him.
He looked at her like she was the crazy one.
"Not only is magic real, but I am a wizard, and you, Hermione, are a witch."
"And you expect me to believe this how?"
He reached into his pocket, took out a piece of wood about a foot long, and waved it at the trunk she didn't realize was sitting next to the door. It lifted up off the ground. She gasped and said,
"No way! You're putting me on. This is some sort of trick."
"I am afraid not."
"Can you make magical potions? Do those even exist?"
He laughed out loud again. "Yes, they exist. I am your potions teacher at Hogwarts, one of the magical schools in Britain."
"Wow, this is a lot to take in."
"When you regain your memory everything will become clear. Now let us go." He turned and walked to the stairs, the trunk floating beside him. She discovered he was a very fast walker, and fell behind quickly.
"Please wait! I haven't walked properly in… well, you'd probably know better than I, seeing as I can't remember anything from before," she panted. He stopped and waited for her to catch up and they finally got to the stairs. He offered her his arm to aid her in climbing the steep stairs, and she quietly thanked him. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, he showed her to the back door and they ended up in a tiny back garden. He motioned for her to hold onto his arm again.
"What next, are we waiting for the next magic carpet?" she joked.
"Those are illegal in Britain. We will be Apparating close to the cottage. There will be a slight hike to get there, but the wards won't let us any closer."
"Okay…"
"Close your eyes. Trust me when I say it's easier," he said, and half-sneered at her.
She closed her eyes and gripped his arm tightly. She felt like she was being squeezed, then suddenly the squeezing stopped and she tumbled to the ground. Upon opening her eyes, she saw the man standing over her shaking his head. He helped her to her feet.
"Quite the gentleman, aren't you?" she quipped.
"I was raised that way," he said stiffly.
"It wasn't meant as an insult. It's not every day that someone takes care of me. The boys are overprotective, but they do it because they think I can't do anything myself," she said without thinking. He stared at her. She stared back until she burst out,
"What!"
"Did you… remember that?"
She paused and realized what she just said.
"I guess I did," she said slowly, "but I don't really know who the dark haired boy is. The tall red-head is Ron, I'm pretty sure." He looked pained.
"I'm not the one who should tell you about them. I hope your memory returns, you three are very close." He turned and started walking through the trees, leaving her with her jumbled thoughts.
And that's it for tonight! Hopefully it'll be up soon, as the computer I'm on right now doesn't even have a CD-drive, let alone Internet access. I've got to use floppy disks to transfer the files. It's a bit sketchy, but at least it hasn't overheated on me…yet.
I'm flirting with the idea of an HG-SS interesting encounter, but don't want to alienate anyone. Thoughts?
So, I hope you enjoyed it after so long, and I will dance if I see some emails in my inbox saying I've got reviews! I leave you with my favourite quote: "If music be the food of love, play on." Sweet, sweet Bard, how I love thy works.
