Chapter 23: The Slithering Kind
My thanks to all my readers and reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.
Malfoy Manor, Wizarding World...
Bellatrix LeStrange had been alone in the vast manor when the floo activated. She had not been surprised to see Severus Snape step through. He had most likely been there to ensure that she made a decent recovery given all that she had to withstand at the hands of both The Potions Master and The Dark Lord. Snape entered her bedroom. It had been a dismal sight, the drapes had been drown and the semi-darkness gave display to the depressive feelings that had surfaced inside the deranged witch. She had still been sprawled out in the large four poster bed with elegant dressing. Snape checked her vitals and proceeded to administer a few more potions for healing and stamina.
"Not with your little Mudblood today?" asked Bellatrix bitterly.
Snape bristled at the use of that word in connection with his wife.
"I am here at the behest of your sister to ensure you make a speedy recovery." he said with an icy tone.
"Of course." chided Bellatrix. "Ever the loyal and considerate friend to your former lover."
"Enough." said Snape growing immediately tired of her antics.
He made for the door and Bellatrix sat up closing it shut with her magic.
"If only our son could see you now." she said bitterly. "Cow towing to Mudbloods and Dumbledore like a lost puppy...not a single thought to avenging his murder nor a flicker of concern for his pain and agony..."
Snape felt his rage build at her words but kept his back to her as he faced the door.
"Do. Not. Use. My. Son. In. A. Bid. To. Provoke. Me." he replied in a chilling tone.
"Or what?" hissed Bellatrix. "You're all talk...Snape...a slithering coward..."
Snape whirled around on the deranged witch with his pale hand clasped around her equally pale throat. There was heated defiance in her dark eyes as she layed there pinned beneath his ebony clad for and the mattress with elegant dress.
"Do. It." goaded the deranged witch.
Snape glared murderously at her.
She arched her body into his as the tears began to fall.
"Go on." she continued. "You wouldn't be the first to "put me in my place"...or are you too much of a...coward?"
Snape tightened his grip on the witch's throat slowly cutting off her air supply. At the sensation of being choked to death Bellatrix continued to arch her body into his pressing firmly against him as her pale hands got to work unbuttoning his trousers. A low hiss escaped the dour wizard as he felt her hand tighten around his blatant erection.
At the feel of her grasp Snape lessened his hold.
"See." said Bellatrix in a choked whisper. "She doesn't know the real you...like I do."
Snape wanted to pull away. He wanted to pretend that she had no affect on him but he would have been lying to himself. She had an effect. A tremendous effect. Before he knew it his ebony clad back was pressed against the mattress of her elegantly dressed bed. The naked witch straddled him. Frozen from the pleasure she was sending through him, Snape could only look up at her with his eyes hooded and his body in agony.
The deranged witch had been merely seconds from slipping him inside her when Lucius came bursting through the door. The handsome albino Pureblood had been glaring at his sister-in-law not at all moved by the sight of her without clothing.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to take your hands off my little brother's cock Bellatrix." he said in a bored tone. "Cissy needs him in the drawing room."
"Don't you ever knock?" asked Bellatrix irate.
Lucius arched an eyebrow at her.
"Me?" he said almost as if it were foreign. "Knock?...In My House?"
Bellatrix rolled her eyes as Snape started to comeback to his senses below her.
"Do come along Severus." said Lucius with a smirk in his sister-in-law direction. "We wouldn't want to keep that lovely little wife of yours waiting too long."
Snape shook his head and lifted off the bed causing Bellatrix to fall to the floor below. He straightened his trousers and adjusted his robes. He gave Lucius a grateful smile and headed out the door as quickly as possible. It was already understood that his wasn't something to be spoken of. Lucius had not particularly enjoyed seeing the naked form of his wife's older sister. It had been the subject of his nightmares for years.
"I hate you." said Bellatrix glaring at the handsome albino blond wizard.
Lucius simply smiled.
"Good you wretched harpy." he said as his gray eyes narrowed at her. "Because the feeling is mutual...stay the hell away from my brother."
Bellatrix smirked.
"What's the matter Lucius." she said taunting. "Afraid that little ol' me will corrupt your precious half-blood?"
Lucius took a step into the room as his rage surged through him.
"Listen to me you deranged slut." he said coldly. "Severus is not yours...I dreaded the day you got your claws into him to begin with...but that is over and it has passed...He deserves better and I will not have you drag him down into the muck with you."
"Bold words from the wizard who stole the second woman he had ever loved is it not Lucius?" she asked. "Do you think he and Narcissa would have been happy had you not slithered your way into their union?"
Lucius was furious now.
"Do not go so far as to insult me in my own house Bellatrix." said the handsome wizard. "You and I both know the only reason Severus and Narcissa could not be together was due to his blood status."
"And you and I both know that he cannot resist me for long." said Bellatrix with a wicked grin. "You, Dumbledore, and his little Mudblood bride can try all you like to keep us apart but the fact remains, I am the mother of his child...I am the only one who never turned him away in favor of another and he is absolutely obsessed with all the naughty little things we do together."
Lucius rolled his eyes.
"For the last time Bellatrix." he said in a serious tone. "Stay the hell away from my brother."
"Sorry Lucius." said Bellatrix completely unapologetic. "But you have no say when it comes to the dark lord's brand of entertainment."
Lucius' eyes widened at the mention of the dark lord.
"Leave him alone Bellatrix." he said this time with less venom.
"No can do Lucius, Severus and I belong together." she said.
"You're delusional." said Lucius disgusted. "Get dressed, I would hate for Narcissa to see what a grotesque slut her elder sister has become."
With that he left the cackling witch to her own devices.
Downstairs...
Narcissa had been smiling rather cheerfully at Snape. He did his best to keep his distance given his condition due to the antics of Bellatrix. Lucius joined them at the foot of the stairs before Snape made a rather hasty retreat into the floo.
"I do hope all is well, Severus." said the handsome albino blond unable to resist the chance to goad the dour wizard.
Snape glared at him.
"I have done all I can for Bellatrix it seems." he said coolly. "Now I must get back to Hogwarts."
"Of course." said Narcissa with a pleasant smile. "Thank you so much for your help Severus."
Snape nodded and went towards the floo.
Snape's Quarters, Slytherin Dungeons, Hogwarts...
It had been silent when the Potions Professor got back to his quarters. He couldn't get the thought of Bellatrix out of his mind. It unnerved him how easily she had gotten to him. He wondered if it had been a side effect from the spell the dark lord used on him when forcing them to engage. As he paced the front room deep in thought he heard the faint sound of had been someone emptying their stomach of all it's contents. He ventured into the bedroom and had been treated to the sight of his wife fighting through a wave of nausea.
He made his way into the bathroom pleased to have his rather weary mind on a simple task for once. He set to work helping her off the bathroom floor and into bed. He brewed her a light nausea potion and gave her a bit of tea to settle her nerves as well as her stomach. The young witch had been grateful smiling at him with her ever innocent amber eyes.
Snape climbed into bed with her after cleaning up and they simply enjoyed the silence. She rested her head against his chest and he leaned against the stone wall that his bed had been up against.
"You know they say talking to the baby helps development." said Hermione.
"If you think I am going to lower myself any further by talking to your belly you have another thing coming Mrs. Snape." said Snape repulsed by the idea.
Hermione simply smiled.
"You hear that sweetheart, that grouch is your father." she said directly to her stomach.
Snape rolled his eyes at the spectical she was making of herself.
"If anyone outside this room saw you doing that they'd have you packed up and shipped off to the funny farm." he said.
"I'm sorry to tell you this but the grouch has always been that way and shows no significant signs of change." said Hermione to her belly.
"Very funny witch." said Snape in her ear.
"Funny because it's true." said Hermione giggling.
"Hardly." replied Snape bitterly.
Hermione reached up and stroked his cheek. She loved it when he was reduced to pouting. The effect was positively adorable. As the days passed, she found that she was finding out more little things about her husband that she seemed to love. He kissed her on the lips as they lied back in bed. The bushy haired Gryffindor straddled the head of Slytherin and kissed him passionately. His mind had been in a fog of lust as she continued to get his attention in the worst way.
A hiss escaped Snape's pale lips as Hermione impaled herself on her husband's erection. Her soft nimble fingers stroked the pale flesh of his chest. She continued to kiss him lost in the moment that seemed to overtake them.
"I love you." Hermione said against his lips as she started to move against him.
If Snape had any objections to what she had said he couldn't find the logical aspect of his mind to refute her sentiment as she continued to please him. This was a new thing for her to be on top of him and in control, the dour wizard found that he wasn't too adverse to it. It had been freeing to let her take the lead just this once and she proved to be a quick study when it came to sex. He smiled against her lips as he thought back to how scared and unsure she had been during their wedding night.
"Hermione." he said in a breathless whisper.
The raw emotion exchanged between them had only served to strengthen her feelings for him.
"Severus." she said reeling from the pleasure he was sending through her body. "I love you so much."
The dour wizard reached up stroking her belly beneath her night shirt with his pale calloused fingers.
"You're so beautiful." he said taken by the sight of her.
Snape leaned up kissing her belly as she leaned against him.
Her hands were in his hair running her fingers through his raven locks. She had not been repulsed nor put off by the slickness of it. She forced him back down to the mattress as she picked up the pace.
"Severus." said the young witch losing herself in the sensations running rampant through her body.
The Potions Master groaned in blissful agony as he felt his end approaching. Normally he would have lasted for hours but the intensity of her raw emotion had gotten to him some how and amid seeing her tears stream down her supple cheeks he lost what little self control he could muster in the heated moment as she reached her release and pulled him along with her.
"Hermione!" he called out as she all but screamed his name.
Spent and out of breath the young witch collapsed onto him. Snape struggled to catch his breath as she kissed him softly despite her tired state. There was something in her eyes. It lit up and she couldn't seem to help herself.
"I love you." she said again.
Snape could not bring himself to reply but that didn't seem to matter to Hermione who simply layed her head on his chest and drifted off to sleep. To say that The Potions Professor had been stunned was an understatement. He had been floored at her admission. This was a marriage based on convenience and law. While the sex had been better than either one of the could have imagined and she was carrying his child, it was a little more than strange to hear her actually say that she was in love with him.
He had been more inclined to show some compassion when it came to her and her condition but to say that he loved her? He had no idea why she had even bothered to love him. How could she love him? No one loved him. He wasn't some Gryffindor pet project. He didn't need her placing emotional constraints on him. He simply married her because he was given no choice.
As he drifted off to sleep, Snape found himself standing on the same sandy beach as before. Only this time he could see Hermione waving at him with a big smile plain as day right along with Albus, Minerva, Potter, Weasley, and many other from the Order and Hogwarts. On the other side of the line was Bellatrix beckoning to him.
She had not been alone, accompanied by The Dark Lord, Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, and Others from the Dark Lords ranks. In the center of it all had been a young wizard with lengthy raven hair and obsidian eyes with pale skin.
"Hello again, Father." said the familiar raven haired boy.
Snape arched an eyebrow at his sudden growth spurt. He looked to be about sixteen years of age. His own looks seemed to bleed through the young raven haired wizard.
"Hello." said Snape. "Might I ask how long it's been since you've obviously grown."
The boy smiled.
"I wish I could tell you father." he said. "Mother misses you a great deal."
"I would imagine so." said Snape. "Tell Hermione that she needn't waste her tears."
The boy's eyes widened.
Snape smirked.
"Don't worry." he said "You didn't give anything away...I know your mother better than you think...foolish Gryffindor sentiment is definitely her thing."
The boy smiled looking every bit like Snape.
"You've gotten tall." said Snape observing his future son.
"They tell me I get that from you." said the boy.
"Obviously." replied Snape. "You're mother isn't exactly a fair example of growth...she'd be lucky if she's even gotten any taller than she is right now."
The boy shook his head.
"I don't suppose I can know your name..then again it's not a wise idea given the nature of things." said Snape. "And by the looks of it you've been taking some sort of Dream Stride Potion in a bid to communicate with me."
"Wow." said the boy stunned by his father's quick observations.
Snape smirked once again.
"Dare I ask whom it was that invented such a potion?" he asked.
"You're looking at him." said the boy.
Snape arched an eyebrow at this.
"Y-You?" he said stunned.
The boy nodded.
"I wanted to see you for myself." he said. "Without all the stories...just...just to see if they all match up."
Snape shook his head. It was amazing how much this boy had been like him.
"I wish I could have known you." he said. "I suppose this would have to do."
The boy nodded.
"It is rather impressive that you invented such a potent potion at your age." said The Potions Master.
"Well, I want to be a Potions Master...like you." said the boy.
"You definitely seem to have the talent for it." said Snape.
The young wizard nodded.
"Then I must be good if you say so." he said. "Mother says you don't give false praise."
Snape nodded this time.
"I don't." he replied. "But Dream Stride is a very complex potion...I had some research on it but I never got around to finishing..."
Snape suddenly looked the boy in his eyes.
"You?" he said in disbelief. "You concocted the Dream Stride Potion I never completed?"
The raven haired boy nodded.
Much to the boy's surprise Snape smiled.
"Well." he said. "At least I know it works."
He found himself more interested in talking with his future son as they compared notes and ingredients. It had been quite a refreshing thing to speak about potions and various properties of ingredients instead of the war and his various loyalties.
Hermione awoke to find that her husband had been asleep with tears falling silently down his sallow pale cheeks. She had believed him to be having a nightmare and shook him awake.
Snape opened his eyes not at all happy about loosing the time he had with his future son but the worried look on his young wife's face had quelled his anger.
"I'm alright." he told her as he pulled her against him.
She laid in his arms and rested on her head against his chest.
"What were you dreaming about?" she asked still concerned.
"The future." replied Snape as he kissed her cheek.
The young witch had not known what he meant but smiled when she felt his hand on her belly.