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Chapter 27 "Week Two"

A rattling noise caused Severus to jerk awake; a metal pan of food clattered to the floor, thrown there by the hooded dementor that delivered his food. The creature seemed to lean toward Severus for a moment, filling the air with the sound of its noisy breathing, and Severus fought his instincts to run, because there was no where to run to. Sure the cell door was open, but that's where the dementor was standing. And if he did get out, where would he go?

The dementor glided toward him until it was only a few feet away and reached out with a hand that looked like it belonged to a dead man. Severus found his eyes drawn to that hand, usually the only part of the dementors that he saw. Sometimes he was unlucky enough to get a glimpse of a wide, gaping hole under the dementors' hoods when they shifted, and he would have to turn away. He supposed that was their version of a mouth.

Severus continued staring at the hand, frozen in a kind of terrified fascination. The hand was tinged with green and purple, its veins full and plump although no blood ran through them, and there were sores that oozed a disgusting yellow pus.

After a moment, the dementor suddenly drew back quickly and exited, the cell door slamming shut behind it.

Severus slumped against the wall, his trance broken. His body relaxed a bit now that the creature was gone, but not much. He waited another minute to make sure the dementor wouldn't be back before lunging at the food tray. He was starving. They were only fed twice a day, and it was meager pickings.

There was a cup of water, alot of which had been spilt when the tray had been dumped unceremoniously on the ground, a pile of rotten vegetables, and some bread which was so hard Severus had to soak it in the water before he could chew it. He made his way quickly through the bread and water and his stomach howled in hunger, wanting more. Sometimes it was worse after he had a little bit to eat; it made him hungry for more. Some days he would save his first meal and combine it with his second so there would be more.

Severus began downing the vegetables, ignoring the sickly-sweet, fermenting taste until he felt something wriggling in his mouth. He stopped chewing and spit his mouthful onto the tray. He really didn't want to see what was in that mouthful, but he examined the contents anyway. Slimy white maggots wriggled inside the piece of rotten tomato that had been in his mouth, standing out among the red of the tomato, and his stomach churned.

Severus quickly pushed the tray away, and willed himself not to throw up and lose the little food he already had consumed. But the image of the maggots remained in his mind, and he rushed to the grimy hay pile/toilet in the opposite corner to empty the pitiful contents of his stomach. He crawled back to his cot, feeling weak and took up his usual posture, snuggling in the corner to stay warm.

Severus suddenly felt a new wave of cold that didn't come from the dementors; this time it was natural. He could hear the raindrops splashing upon the cold concrete outside his cell and the wind whistling through the cracks in his cell as a storm passed over the prison. There was no roof on the prison, it was basically just a hollow cylinder. There were several floors of cells resting on top of each other, so the cells themselves had roofs, but the rain still ran in making the scraggly blankets grow damp and chilly.

Severus tried to grasp at the image of Lily again, but he found he couldn't picture her as he had earlier that day. His heart started beating quickly in panic. Why couldn't he remember her? She had red hair, right? And green eyes? But why couldn't he pull up a mental image of her?

Before he could stop himself, he felt tears forcing themselves out, and running down his cold, pale cheeks. He felt ashamed; he was a grown man, weeping into his blanket. But he found that he was not alone. He could hear the Others crying louder them him, screaming in anguish. Screams full of pleas to be released, to let their imprisonment end. But unlike him, most of them were here for life. A twinge of pity ran through him for the Others, and he had to remind himself that they were Death Eaters and murderers. But wasn't he a murderer now too?

Severus heard a shrill animal-like cry that scared him and made him leap to his feet; it was full of fear, desperation. As he looked around to see where it had come from, realization hit him; the sound had escaped from his lips.

How much longer could he do this before he went mad? If he went crazy, where would the dementors take him? Or would they leave him until he died in this cold cell? Severus stuffed the filthy blanket in his mouth so he couldn't scream anymore, and squeezed his eyes shut, trying and failing again to conjure an image of Lily.

There will be other characters entering the story later on:Dumbledore, Remus and *hint* other Order members. Lily will experience firsthand the destruction that the Death Eaters cause. Stay tuned, fellow readers, and I'll see you next chapter! {Most likley it'll be a LIly chapter}

Dementors ;)