Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Somewhere in the spinning blackness, Harriet lost consciousness.
Her last thoughts were of Severus and their baby before her worries were blissfully washed away by temporary nothingness.
Later, a gentle touch graced her shoulder.
She gradually returned to the world as she struggled to regain her senses.
Harriet moved slightly and felt the silk sheets underneath her rustle as she thought…..
It must have been a bad dream.
She hadn't taken her exam yet.
She hadn't been abducted.
She and Severus were on holiday somewhere together.
They had taken a honeymoon to an estate in France…….or was it a villa in Italy?
They were in a beautiful, bright place where the sun beamed down on the smiling people.
When Harriet slowly opened her eyes to that bright light, she discovered that it did not come from the sun.
Somewhere behind that blinding beam, she recognized Elion Dacre's cold stare.
He looked at her with a gleeful grin while he exclaimed, "Oh, good! You're finally awake!"
The estate in France and the villa in Italy both disappeared as Harriet's head throbbed and her back smarted.
She writhed on the bed as she squinted her eyes shut while the memories of what had truly happened and the dire urgency of her current reality came rushing back.
Clink, clink.
Harriet's eyes snapped open at the sound that came from above and below her.
Clink, clink.
She heard the noise and felt their weight before she saw them…….chains.
Enchanted, heavy chains had been fastened around her ankles and wrists to bind her to the bed.
Harriet's breath hitched as she turned her head to look over at her captor while Elion chuckled darkly and informed her, "I wouldn't waste my energy struggling if I were you, it won't do you any good. You're where you belong at last, Harriet Potter, assassin of the Dark Lord."
"My name is Harriet Snape now! Let me go!" Harriet snapped. She knew that was a futile attempt, but the command left her lips instinctively as she glared at Elion and spat, "Let me go and take me home!"
"This is your home now, pet." Elion answered in a low, dangerous purr as he stepped away from Harriet and walked to the other side of the dark room.
Panic gripped Harriet for a brief moment when a flurry of motion came from within her womb as the baby sensed the adrenaline that coursed through her veins.
"Take me back to my mate!" Harriet demanded as she rattled the chains that confined her.
"I am your mate." Elion corrected her with an eerie calmness in his voice.
Harriet rattled her chains again as she hissed at her assailant and cried, "That's a lie!"
"Perhaps for now……" Elion chuckled again. Harriet heard him take a drink of something and pause. After a moment, he turned towards her with the light from his wand illuminating his face as he went on, "...But I will be soon."
Harriet's heart pounded as she drew in a shuddering breath, gathered her courage, and tried to think.
She mentally berated herself for not trying harder to master Occlumency and Legilimency years ago.
If she had been able to enter Severus's mind, maybe then she could have told him what happened, who had taken her, and where she was.
…….But where was she, anyway?
She looked around the windowless room, or place, or wherever it was that Elion had brought her and only saw……..darkness.
The details of her new environment remained hidden to her eyes.
All she could see was Elion, the light from his wand's tip, and the bed beneath her.
Harriet grit her teeth and bravely faced her adversary with the same, unyielding determination that she had shown the Dark Lord as she defiantly declared, "...Severus will find me."
"Not if he doesn't know where to look." Elion replied with a wicked smirk.
"NO!" Harriet shrieked as he took a step towards her.
She thrashed violently as Elion flicked his wrist.
He sneered as he conjured a magical gag to wrap over her mouth and force her into silence.
Harriet turned away from Elion as best she could, but another burst of light from his wand sent her eyes rolling back into her head as she slipped again into a merciful sleep punctuated by dreams of more pleasant circumstances.
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Severus didn't bother going to the Ministry and asking the aurors for help, that would take too long.
He didn't visit any of his old friends for fear that they wouldn't support him in his mission.
No, Severus felt that he had to go after Harriet by himself.
The Dacres had been massive supporters of Lord Voldemort during the war.
After what Elion had attempted to do to Harriet months ago, Severus held the family fully responsible for her sudden and inexplicable disappearance.
Severus had become familiar with the Dacres over the years, but they had always insisted on hiding the exact location of their home.
There were few concealment charms that could keep Severus Snape from finding what he wanted.
After he performed a few tracing spells using his wedding ring and his memories of Harriet, he arrived on the outskirts of their property with a loud pop.
The Dacres were affluent in their own right, yet their assets couldn't compare to the Malfoys' wealth and status.
Severus couldn't care less as he blasted his way through the Dacres' iron gate, strode up the front steps, and used the heavy, wooden knocker on the door.
A moment later, that door opened and Severus found himself staring at…….no one.
He heard a slight movement and glanced down to see a very miserable house elf scowling up at him.
The house elf looked hungry, angry, and it had an odd way of standing with its back bent out of shape as if it were very cold.
Severus did not have time or energy to spare in sympathy for the elf's plight.
He was in a hurry to save Harriet from the peril that she and their baby may be facing at that exact moment.
"I need to speak to your master, Archichat Dacre." Severus snapped at the elf.
"Master Dacre is not here, and even if he was, he has no words to say to Severus Snape!" The elf shot back hatefully.
Severus watched the creature spit at his shoes in disgust.
"If Archichat is not home, then I will converse directly with his son, Elion. I'm sure you know him well?" Severus asked the elf, "A cruel boy with a penchant for violence and sickening thoughts?"
"Young master Dacre is not here either!" The elf snapped, "And even if he was, he would also have nothing to say to Severus Snape, the traitor, the scum! Severus Snape, the one who expelled the Dacre family from the noble school of Hogwarts, the center for-"
Severus interrupted the elf's tirade by testing his loyalty.
He understood dark minds and dark wizards well.
He felt certain that the savagery which Elion had previously displayed towards Harriet extended far beyond her.
Severus gazed down at the elf as he shrewdly asked, "-Surely both of your masters delight in tormenting you? The younger one even more so, I assume? Spoiled children…..of privileged families usually enjoy torturing your kind."
The elf flinched at the mere mention of his mistreatment.
Severus thought that he may have made a breakthrough for a moment before the elf snarled and stubbornly replied, "Disencan is loyal to the noble house of Dacre."
"And is Disencan loyal out of obligation….or love…..or fear?" Severus asked with a gentle, patronizing undertone in his low voice, "Can you call house Dacre noble when you know what your masters are capable of?"
Disencan grit his teeth at Severus while he idly rubbed his hands together.
Severus noticed the bandages on the elf's fingers and the bruises that covered his battered limbs.
Elion was behind Harriet's disappearance, Severus knew it, he felt it in his soul.
Besides, his tracing spells had led him to the Dacre estate.
He could come back with a warrant from the Ministry and demand to search the house, but the paperwork alone may not be processed for a week.
Severus had to find Harriet immediately!
He surmised that the fastest way to accomplish that was to consult the Dacre house elf.
"I've come here to find something of mine that's been stolen from me." Severus said to the elf in a quiet tone that was barely above a whisper.
His black robes swayed elegantly as he bent down towards the Dacres' servant while he continued, "There's an innocent woman that will meet a horrible, gruesome end if you refuse to assist me."
He would find a way to recover Harriet on his own if the house elf ultimately refused, but it would make everything simpler for Severus if he could gain the creature's cooperation.
House elves knew their masters' secrets, all of their secrets.
Disencan's expression of rage and distrust slowly melted into one of melancholy sadness as he stared up at Severus with hopelessness in his large eyes and confessed, "If Disencan speaks, Disencan will die."
Severus stared at the house elf intently while he asked, "Do you honestly believe that you have a chance of living a long life while you serve masters as vile as the Dacres?"
"Disencan has no choice in the matter, Severus Snape." The house elf answered with a sad but honest resolution in his tone.
Severus let out a sigh under his breath.
Close, he was so close.
"If you assist Severus Snape, Disencan, then Severus Snape….will see that the Dacres free you." Severus promised as he enunciated each word very carefully.
Hope grew in Severus's heart as Disencan's large eyes widened at his vow, but his face fell as the house elf narrowed his eyes without warning.
"...How does Disencan know that he can trust Severus Snape, the great betrayer?" Disencan asked hesitantly with a suspicious scowl.
"Without my mate, I will surely die." Severus replied with the utmost sincerity, "Give my life back to me, Disencan, and I will give you yours."
Severus had not been spoken of very kindly by his former Death Eater friends after the war, but Disencan had heard of Severus's skill and cunning.
Those rumors of Severus's talents gave the house elf confidence that Severus may be able to help him gain his liberty after all.
Disencan's loyalty to the Dacre family was nothing more than a mask that he wore to stay alive.
If there was truly a way out, then the house elf would gladly take it.
Severus and the elf stared at each other for a tense moment before Disencan opened the door and stepped to the side.
Severus smirked triumphantly as he withdrew his wand from his black robes and glided into the Dacre mansion…...
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The Dacres had displayed their fortune in the form of lavish rugs and elegant wallpapers, but as Severus walked through the fine hallways of their splendid home, he could sense the lacking sense of finance that stood underneath the outer layer of expensive furnishings.
An angry scowl marred Severus's pale face as the house elf led him down one hallway, up a flight of stairs, and then down another long corridor.
It surprised Severus that the Dacre mansion appeared to be just as Disencan had claimed…...empty.
He had assumed that the house elf had lied about Archichat and Elion not being home.
Severus had hoped that he would be able to swoop in and rescue Harriet without dueling in her presence, then he could return later and…….handle…….the Dacres once and for all.
"Disencan saw young master Dacre go in here, Severus Snape." Disencan announced as he came to a stop outside of a bedroom door. He shook his head and added, "Disencan hasn't seen young master Dacre come back out since."
"...And was your master with anyone?" Severus asked.
"Disencan doesn't know, Severus Snape." The house elf frowned as he stared up at Severus.
Severus frowned back at the elf, but he wasted no time in reaching out to grab the doorknob.
Harriet would be on the other side of the door.
Severus would burst into the room and save her, he would-
As soon as Severus's hand touched the brass, he was sent whirling through the air in a dizzying spin towards an unknown destination.
His first reaction was to be fearful, but his protective instincts overrode his qualms.
His suspicions had been correct.
No one kept a Portkey in their home without a reason.
While Severus hurtled towards Harriet, he clung to his desperate hopes that she was still alive, that their baby was still alive, that they could both hold on………..alpha, Daddy, Severus………was on his way.
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When Harriet opened her eyes again, she tried very hard to apparate, an action that promptly failed.
Elion laughed in amusement as he watched her.
"Are you stupid enough to think that I'd allow you to use your magic here, pet? You silly little thing! Now that I know my charm worked, I suppose we can have some light." Elion sighed.
Harriet heard him clap his hands and the blackness of the room was eaten away by the sudden flash of igniting flames.
One by one, the hanging wooden torches that surrounded the circular room lit at Elion's command and illuminated the space that served as Harriet's cell.
From her place on the bed, she moved to sit up as best she could and look around.
The walls were oddly coated in a gilded plaster.
The bed was against one of the walls and across from it, all the way on the other side of the room, Elion stood by a table that had been stocked with wine and cheese.
A fireplace crackled behind him and over the curve of her belly, Harriet could see that a rug had been laid on the floor.
No doors, no windows, no way out.
Elion smirked at her as he removed the enchanted gag in her mouth with an effortless wave of his wand.
"-Where am I?!" Harriet hissed at her captor.
"In your new home…..a place of my own devising." Elion said with a jovial smile as he stared at Harriet, "Don't worry, you're safe here, pet. No one can find you, no one can hear you either, and no one can harm you...except for me, of course."
Harriet clenched her jaw as Elion smirked at her and added, "...However, as long as you show me obedience, that won't have to happen."
"What do you want from me?" Harriet hissed as a dull ache started at the base of her spine. Hateful tears welled in her eyes as she huffed, "To finish what you started last time? Get it over with, then! Go on, it'll be your death, not mine, when Severus finds you!"
"The fleeting triumph of a few, brief moments of pleasure is not my main goal, no matter how sweet those moments may be…..." Elion grinned at Harriet.
The dull ache in her back caused her to shift on the bed while Elion sat his glass of wine down on the table and walked towards her as he spoke, "Despite my best efforts, I failed that night, at the ball…...if I hadn't, if that meddlesome traitor would have kept his hooked nose in his own business, then things would be so very different now."
Harriet tried to squirm away from Elion as he approached her on the bed, but in her restraints and without her wand in her hand, she had limited means of escape.
"It would be my bed that you rested in each night." Elion sighed as he reached his hands out and cupped Harriet's heavy breasts.
She winced as Elion gave her tender glands a brutal squeeze before he let his fingers drift along her rib cage.
"It would be my name that you took…..." Elion continued as he stared longingly at Harriet while his palms brushed over her sides.
"...And it would be my pup in your belly." Elion mused with a purr as he dared to splay his hands over her swollen abdomen.
Elion blinked as Harriet grimaced under his touch.
The dull ache in her back crescendoed into a wave of pain that wrapped from her spine around her front, all the way down her belly.
Elion felt the tension under his hands and a bright smile cracked his lips as he exclaimed, "Excellent work, pet! Once you expel the evidence of your poor decision, I'll have no trouble filling you with my little ones instead."
"N-No!" Harriet cried as she gasped for breath once the pain ended, "I-It's too early! I-I-"
Elion clamped his hand down over her mouth and put a finger to his lips as he whispered, "Sssssh, pet. If you're quiet enough, I'll spare the brat and see that they get placed in a….decent…..orphanage. How's that? Am I not a kind alpha?"
When Harriet felt another pain already threatening to explode across the base of her spine, her heart felt like it would tear open as she considered the danger that she was in, trapped like vermin.
Something was wrong, she would die, the baby would die, and Severus…….
In one great, swirling rush, Severus landed in the middle of the room with his black robes spilling around him in a dramatic flourish.
Harriet's emerald eyes widened.
"YOU!" Elion roared in a vicious snarl as he looked over to see his enemy scowling at him.
Severus glanced at Harriet before he turned to face his nemesis.
The pain and fear that he saw in his mate's eyes strengthened him as he pointed his wand at Elion before he even spoke.
Severus prepared to fight the young, evil wizard with the most powerful weapon that any alpha could wield, the desire to protect his mate and family.