Hello Everyone,

I just have to put this disclaimer on top because this chapter is graphic and I don't want to offend. Please keep that in mind while reading. Also, please remember to keep reviewing! I write faster when you do!

Another BIG Thank You to my beta reader for making this such a great story!

Voldemort watched his prisoner impassively as he writhed on the floor, blood dripping slowly from his mouth as he fought to remain silent. Branded as a traitor to the cause, Severus knew that it would be a long time before death stole over his broken body, and in the mean time he was forced to endure the pain as a punishment of all his crimes. Voices blurred and their laughter echoed in his ears as he was once again Crucioed. He could feel the fury of the curse as it struck his helpless body and forced his limbs to shake. That was the thing about Dark curses – you needed to mean it when you casted them. Biting through his lip, Severus tried to close his eyes, but his body refused to respond due to the pain. "Enough!" a loud voice called, and for a blessed moment he was able to regain some control over himself and force his lungs to work again. He had been stripped of his cloak, shirt and shoes; the ground underneath him was cold but helped in some ways to sooth the fiery pain streaking down his nerves. The circle of Death Eaters broke, and in front of him stood Voldemort in all his glory, staring down at him like an insect with burning red eyes. "Severus, I had believed that you would be one of my greatest accomplishments. When you came to me you begged me to teach you the dark ways. I taught you to wield the power locked inside you for the benefit of our side." Leaning down, Voldemort gently caressed his cheek. The Potions Master jerked out of his grasp glaring at the man, disgust and hatred in his eyes.

"I will never serve you," he whispered wishing that his voice hadn't sounded so rough, and his body hadn't trembled at the touch.

Voldemort stared at Severus. "I see that now," he said gently. "But I can't have you running off to tell the Order my plans." Standing up, he turned to the others in the room. "You, come forward. I want our dear Potions Master to grasp the gravity of the situation before I destroy his memory." The called Death Eater strolled forward unafraid as it took its rightful place beside his Lord. "Remove your mask."

The Death Eater hesitated briefly before pulling the mask from his face and staring into the condemned man's eyes. Severus felt a chill run up his spine that had nothing to do with the torture he suffered. "You!"

Cornelius Fudge stood before Voldemort and the Death Eaters, a sly grin on his face as he glared at the man. He raised his wand slightly and murmured a spell; instantly he was transformed into Lucius Malfoy. "Our Mr. Malfoy has created a most ingenious spell. One that even has fooled the wards at Hogwarts and allowed a Death Eater onto its sacred soil." Voldemort laughed. "When the time comes we will be able to take over Hogwarts and finally be able to put to death Harry Potter and Dumbledore." The cheer from the Death Eaters seemed to echo against the walls of the room as Severus realized how deeply in trouble the Order was in.

Voldemort laughed as the Potions Master lay on the ground, his face fearful. "Now, I believe we can't leave anybody alive that would give this information to the Order." The Death Eaters groaned, denied the chance to play. "But we don't have to kill him just yet. Lucius, since you were the one to reveal him for what he is I give you to him first for the day. A warning," Voldemort continued, enjoying the feral look on Lucius's face as he started for his prey, "No permanent damage just yet. I want him to survive until we take Hogwarts." Lucius bowed his head, his eyes glittering with rage as he cast Erecto. Unwillingly, Severus was made to stand and face his enemy.

Being grabbed by the arm, he was dragged to one of the antechambers. The prisoner, helpless but to follow, tried to prepare himself for things to come. Lucius threw him inside; he fell over the stones and ended up lying on the floor. His mind working, Severus tried to find a weapon or anything that would help him gathering his legs underneath; he tried to crawl to the door as Lucius whirled on him. "CRUCIO!" Lucius screamed. Severus had a second to try to scramble out of the way, but his legs refused and he felt the curse hit him so hard that if flung him to the wall writhing in pain. This time he couldn't hold the scream that was tortured from his mouth as lights danced in front of his eyes, and he felt blood pour off his body. "You are sick! Traitor that you are!" Lucius screamed, releasing him from the curse. The force of the curse had held him to the wall, and once released he slid down too weak to even blink as he watched his tormentor turn on him. "Incarcerous!" Instantly Severus found himself bound spread eagle against the wall, his hands and feet firmly tied and held.

"You think I will forgive you for your betrayal," Lucius hissed into Severus's ear. "Our Master has given me twenty-four hours to punish you, and I want to have all that time in order to make you understand how very wrong it was to betray us." Pulling a vial from his cloak, he quickly uncorked it and held the prisoner's jaw as he struggled. "Drink this or else..." Severus glared at Lucius, refusing. Lucius smiled. "Diffindo!" Pain radiated from the inside of his leg to the outside as he choked down his own scream and held Lucius's gaze with defiance. "Diffindo!" Lucius screamed again, cutting Severus over and over. Fresh blood poured onto the floor as the Potions Master struggled to keep his jaw clenched shut; his vision grew fuzzy as he fought to hold off the inevitable. "Expulso!"

Severus bucked against the ropes as he smelled his own flesh burning from the curse. His eyes began to water and he fought to breath through the pain, struggling to keep from swallowing whatever potion Lucius had created. He could hear Dumbledore in his mind, telling him to be brave and closed his eyes and tried to focus. Lucius burnt his body twice more before he screamed, and a thick potion was shoved down his throat and he was forced to swallow. Almost instantly pain licked up and down his body as he struggled to prevent the scream as Lucius stepped back and enjoyed his handiwork.

"You know this potion, Snape. You helped to create it…" Lucius smiled. "This is the one potion that you used on that poor Muggle years ago." Severus knew what victim he was talking about; in one of his first Death Eater meetings he had tortured a Muggle with a pain intensifying potion. Voldemort had been pleased and encouraged Severus to create more of the potion for future victims, but after watching the potion work Severus had had a crisis of conscience and hidden the potion away. "I know you hid this from your Master. I was the one who found it."

The pain intensified, stealing all breath from his lungs as Severus struggled to remain stoic; his bones felt like they were being melted through his skin and his blood began to boil. Severus fought to break free from the binds and free from the pain as he jerked and suffocated against the ropes. When the pain had reached a peak it instantly began to melt away, leaving the victim now lying against the binds unable to hold himself up.

"I modified the potion, however; I thought that if you could do this on one Muggle and have the results that we witnessed then there should be a way to prolong the suffering." Lucius smiled. "It will lengthen and the pain will increase at each interval. Like I said, I have a whole day." Just as he said that the pain began to build up again and Severus felt his body begin the go through the effects of the potion again. Taking shallow breaths the Potions Master fought to ride out the worst of the pain in silence, his hands clenching around the ropes that held him up, digging his long fingers into the threads as the pain increased to an intolerable state.

"Professor Snape was taken several hours ago. I need to get some intelligence on what we have as far as information on Voldemort's lair," Dumbledore demanded glaring at the rest of the Order members as they stood circled around his desk.

Remus was the first to step forward as he glanced at Harry, Hermione and Ron before speaking. "All the information we had was with Professor Snape. He told me once that Voldemort refused to disclose the coordinates of his lair in case of this situation, therefore they always Apparated to a special location when their Mark burned."

"Unacceptable! I don't care if we have to hunt down the Death Eaters ourselves!" Dumbledore roared, "I want every available Order member on this! We don't rest until we have him back or we have a body to bury."

The rest of the Order members shifted uneasily but quietly shuffled to the door leaving Harry and the others in the room. "Headmaster, maybe I can help you. I could try to get a vision from Voldemort."

Dumbledore shook his head, "I don't want to alert Voldemort to the fact that we are searching for the Professor yet. It's a good idea and I'll keep it in mind, but right now the further you stay away from Voldemort the better." He turned away from Harry too late for him not to see the guilt in his eyes.

"You don't want me to because you're worried I'll see the Professor tortured? He's my guardian and I want to do everything in my power to get him back," Harry asked knowing he had hit the truth when Dumbledore flinched slightly. "If they are torturing him then I must go now before he is too hurt to be rescued."

Dumbledore sighed. "Harry, right now we need to wait just long enough to find out if he's still alive. Give it some time before we consider this idea," he explained. "Let's try to get some sleep," he said, sending the kids off before they could protest.

Out in the hallway Harry and the others walked slowly towards the common room, their thoughts filled with the day's events. "He will be alright, Harry," Hermione said, her voice quivering as if she were on the verge of crying, "I mean, he's survived a lot more than this, right?"

Ron said nothing, still stunned that the Professor had chosen to save their lives. That had surprised the hell out of him. After a moment he spoke. "If he…If we're not in time. I will go into battle with you, Harry. For him. He saved my life."

Harry nodded, knowing that Ron would be adamant about seeing it done. Walking up to the Fat Lady's portrait, they found a crowd of people standing, waiting on the steps. Most of them were the students from today's attack, and Harry absently wondered if they were there to yell and scream at him for putting them in danger. One of the older students from Ravenclaw stepped forward, a man named Evan. His face paled as he stepped towards Harry and the others. "I, I don't know how to say this," he stammered, looking around at the hopeless faces that surrounded them. "Is there any news on Professor Snape?" he asked hopefully.

Harry shook his head. "No, not yet. They have people searching for him but it's not looking too good."

Evan nodded, taking a moment to gather his courage before he spoke. "Professor Snape saved all our lives and sacrificed his own to ensure our safety. I just wanted to say…we just wanted to say that we are with you. We owe him that much to stand with you. I want him to come back, all of us do." Hesitating, Evan continued, "The Sytherins are holding a candlelight vigil for him…the ones not connected with You-Know-Who. I thought that, well, we're all going. I was hoping that you would come too."

Harry almost smiled. "I think that would be a good idea."

Hanging on the wall, Severus never really took note of the time, he always took note of schedules and meetings but never time itself. The potion had had several hours to work through his system, and as Lucius explained he had modified it for exactly the length of time he needed, twenty-four hours. Hanging on the wall too weak to support himself, Severus felt the build-up of pain again as another hellish cycle started. He was bleeding from his nose and various lacerations Lucius had taken pleasure in presenting him with while the pinnacle of pain was racking his body, beating him whenever he got too bored. He had to survive several more hours before the Dark Lord had his turn and then who else. Stop it! Stop feeling sorry for yourself now! he mentally chided, The only way you're going to survive is to think and use your head in this kind of situation. Pity makes you weak! Taking a small steadying breath – his ribs were too cracked to draw in much air – he closed his eyes and focused on the job. He had been young when his father conditioned him to tolerate pain, and because of those lessons he had managed to make an exceptional Occlumens…because of a sadistic father that hated him. Steeling his mind, he faltered slightly as the pain threshold increased causing him to start taking small breaths to bear the pain. Lucius watched him from afar noticing the slight change in him before the potion began to kick in again, a smirk on his face as he disrobed and set his cloak on the chair. As if waiting for the perfect moment, Lucius studied his prey as it fought the inevitable, then Severus twisted against the ropes suddenly, his face a case study of pain as he began the labored breathing faster, his eyes fluttering closed against his pale skin. This was the moment he had been waiting for. "Petrificus totalus!" Severus stiffened, his eyes rolling open to glare at Lucius as he battled for air in the uncomfortable position.

"Mobilicorpus!" Instantly, Severus felt his body being moved towards a desk. His body still in pain, he was helpless for the moment. Lucius moved him to one of the ends of the table, casting another Incarcerous spell to re-tie him spread eagle to the table face down. "You know, Severus, I'm really disappointed in you." Lucius smiled, circling his prey after he ensured he was bound. The Potions Master said nothing but quietly grunted when the pain became too much to remain silent. His eyes closed, he tried to imagine himself anywhere but there. Pulling out a blade, Lucius grinned watching Severus's eyes harden as they took in the blade in his hand. "You know I have wanted you for some time. You were my Lord's right hand; he taught you everything and left me with nothing." He spat. "Years of faithful service and he repays me with nothing!" He shouted, slamming the blade down inches away from his face. Still frozen, Severus couldn't pull his head back as he stared at the blade embedded in the wood of the desk. "Until now. Now, because of my faithful service I get to torture the traitor first," he whispered, standing in front of him and leaning in close. Lucius grinned as he gently caressed Severus's cheek like a lover. "Time for me to get my wish."

Standing up, Lucius moved in behind Severus. As he felt his pants being lowered and his skin prickling from the cold air, Lucius laughed. "Ah, still as beautiful as I remember," he said, stroking his hand up and down his spine. The Potions Master closed his eyes, willing himself to forget this part of the torture as he felt his cheeks being touched and stroked. He wanted to scream and thrash, he wanted to fight, but the potion and the curse worked against him keeping his body at a high level of pain and unable to move away. He could hear as Lucius began to undress, and a sense of panic filled his lungs as he began to pant. "Easy there," Lucius called gently, still caressing his naked flesh before him. He felt a bold finger press into him and tried to flinch away, but his body refused to respond. Instead the finger dipped inside and breached his tightness easily. "Ah, you are so beautiful," Lucius whispered adding another finger to the other. "No, I won't stretch you all the way…I have to have a little fun of my own." As the fingers slipped from the warmth Severus's whole body shut down. His mind went on auto function as Lucius stood behind him bluntly pushing his way into him with more than just his fingers this time. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm just testing the waters with my cane." Then he gave a hard thrust. Severus tried to clench his fists but couldn't so instead closed his eyes and prayed silently that it would be over soon.

Harry awoke suddenly, he could feel what seemed like a starting of a vision, but then it just dissipated leaving no clues on the Professor's whereabouts. Laying back in bed, Harry glanced at the window; snow had come last night and blanketed the earth with white. He wished he could have celebrated the time of year with joy, but his thoughts were so consumed by the Professor's capture that he didn't feel like celebrating. Throwing the covers off of him, he quickly changed and headed down to the Great Hall; with the holiday vacation on them the castle seemed lonely; no students bustled up and down the moving staircases or in the halls. Entering the Great Hall, Harry noticed that most of the Order were already inside talking to Dumbledore with urgency. Feeling his heart jump to his throat, he picked up the pace and headed towards them; once he was close enough he blurted out the question, "Any news?"

The Order immediately stopped talking, turning to glance at Harry; their eyes held worry and fear and instantly he knew it wasn't good news. "Um, we did find out something, Harry, but it's not good news," Remus started, absently running his hand through his hair before continuing, "The Death Eaters are getting ready for a celebration…some sort of execution. It's going to be bad, Harry, and it's going to revolve around Professor Snape."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean?" His mind conjured up images of Professor Snape's broken body.

"Harry, they are going to use Professor Snape to lure the Order out to the open. They are going to publicly torture and execute him in hopes of drawing you out," Dumbledore explained. "We don't know the date yet but I'm sure that it will be soon."

Harry's stomach rolled and suddenly he was in desperate need of a bathroom. Flinching away from Remus as he reached up to touch him, he backed away, turning and fleeing to the nearest loo he could find. Thankfully he hadn't had any food that morning, and it was dry heaves all he managed. As he leaned over the toilet he felt his body begin to shiver in shock. They are going to publicly torture the Professor, he thought, feeling the need to lean over the toilet again. "What have I done!" Harry cried feeling hot tears course down his face.

"You have done nothing, Harry!" a voice announced, touching the back of his neck with care as he helped Harry lean back against one of the bathroom walls. "He chose to put himself before the danger and the children. He did that to save you because he believed that you were the key to destroying Voldemort," Remus said, bending down to be in Harry's eye level. "He did what anyone else in the Order would have done. We will get him back."

Harry scrubbed at his face, angry at himself for crying; he could almost hear Severus's mocking voice. Crying for me Potter? "Remus, I said so many things to him…to his face, about his loyalties. The man never batted an eye at them. He…he came and saved me from Vernon, and I didn't even thanked him, but instead called him a spy and a traitor."

Remus only smiled. "Harry, we will get him back."

Severus lay at Voldemort's feet bloody, bruised and having a hell of a time breathing, but as he gazed unflinchingly up at his former Master he sneered. Surrounded by Death Eaters, each one more than eager to get their hands on the traitor, Snape reminded himself that he could survive this.

"I have plans for you, traitor," Voldemort hissed, "I have set your execution date and made it known to all your friends. Of course, if they are loyal they will come running, leaving Hogwarts completely defenseless and ripe for the picking."

TBC...

Sorry about the delay I have been a little busy lately. Thank You for all the wonderful reviews and please keep them coming!