Hey. I dont own Harry Potter and I love you guys. Sorry its alittle short but it had to be on its own.

Chapter 15

5While Remus was forced to the floor, so was Snape. He didn't have the liberty to fight the attacker though, for his attacker chose to use the wand instead of the body. The dark cave that Severus had been brought to by the dark mark he bore was filled with men and women of hate, wearing the mask that al knew. These masks hid their true selves from others, but many used it to hide the truth from their own inner eye.

Snape had been on time to the meeting, it was hard to be late when you had no control over the manner of your own body's travel. He was pressed to the floor now merely for sport. Voldemort's older followers were dimwitted and foresaw no harm in torturing the freshest meat. Voldemort never allowed this. He held his henchman in high regard. He only punished when punishment were do.

Odd to think that the most evil being to walk the earth in a century would be kind to his faithful. That didn't make it not true. These thickskulled older breed were only there for show. These were the few of the beginning of this terrible age. They were from the dawn of his time of power. Voldemort kept them around to prove that he would be faithful to those who were faithful.

A spark of red brought Severus back to the cave floor. He much preferred his mind. This spell caused tiny razors to slice at each follicle of hair. It would do no lasting harm and only caused pain now. They were warming up and felt they would have lots of time ere Voldemort arrived. They never were allowed this behavior before the Dark Lord and they tried to never get caught while doing it.

Another spark, this of blue, hit Severus and each of those tiny incisions were magically pulled apart. It was slow but with the cuts all over his body being opened at the same time he felt as though his skin was tearing apart. He never felt such pain. Poor Remus, to go through this every month.

Severus blessed the next burst of light because it drew him from the perilous land that was emotions in the land of pain and torture. This was yellow and he felt the wounds begin to heal. He was shacked by thus more than anything that had occurred in a long while. He had never seen them end by healing him. They preferred to laugh as he fumbled with the charms all on his own. They would aid only if they heard the Dark Lord draw near.

He heard no stir. He saw nothing except the jagged rocks of the ceiling. But then he felt a familiar presence in the vicinity and he strove to stand and bow to his liege. His legs worked to get him to his feet, but with the regaining of his stature he also regained blood flow to his brain and instead of his always flawless bow he merely, nay, barely, made a slight nod without divulging the contents of his stomach instead of the goings on in Hogwarts.

Many of his fellow followers were horrified by the gall of this young encroacher. All knew how the Dark Lord respected him. He nearly revered this miscreant for his birth and his position close to the blubbering idiot Dumbledore. The hate already his due to his existence only grew because of the high position to which he had already ascended. If Tom's heart ever had the power to love it would have been this youth, forced to age beyond his years. As it was Voldemort took Severus under his wing, though what the Dark Lord thought or felt, if anything, were none willing to guess.

A simple meeting proceeded. The followers said nothing about the failure to bow and Voldemort did nothing out of the ordinary. He gathered what information he could from his other spies and then sent the whole lot of them away from the meeting. Severus was used to this, it was always this way. Voldemort shared nothing with his lesser followers and he shared the workings of Dumbledore with none save his most trusted spy.

The Dark Lord seemed pleased with all that Severus had to say. Dumbledore had of course fed him the material. He could never lie this convincingly without his aid. Listening to what he said and offering him aid, that sounded like Remus, the werewolf he had to keep from the Dark Lord most of all. He banished that sandy blond head from his mind. He needed no distractions.

Voldemort came to stand before Severus. Anger caused the candles to flicker in their holders. The walls were cast with a loveliness it had to be terrible. A terribleness doomed to attract, as a moth to the flame. Voldemort meant to intimidate and then turn sweet. He used this tactic often. It was hard to remember anything but who you were sworn to when his power seemed so great. And when he was sweet it was hard to remember why you didn't want to do what he asked in the first place. The charisma had never waned from this body and if anything it had waxed anew.

"Why did thou not bow? Do you mean to disrespect me?" Voldemort fanned hurt. He acted well were it not for the evil glint in those reddening eyes. Severus bowed now, as low as he could, and his hair hung to the floor and hid his face.

"I meant no disrespect. I would never wish that, my lord. I was merely beset with such a dizzy spell that had I bowed any lower than I did I would have spilled more than my tales." Severus stood but took a negligible step back, a clear sign of subservience. Snape looked to those eyes and sought the soul that must at one point have dwelled there.

Both he and Dumbledore knew that as the Dark Lords protégé he would have to work hard to keep from falling out of grace, but there was little the others could do to harm him in the power hungry Dark Lord's eyes.

"I apologize for the crassness of my speech then. Are you well now? We have discussed all we need to, you may go. Do tell me when next you feel faint for I would rather you rude do to sickness than do to a will to undermine me and my designs." Voldemort, in these times, looked almost like Tom would have had he not been raised with so much hate. He looked not just human on the outside, but it seemed even his questionable soul was human and pure.

"I will do as you bid. Thank you dearly for understanding, master. I would loath to think that you had even mere inklings of ill will from me." Severus bowed out and pressed the tip of his wand to the vile mark on his skin forever and anon.

Severus arrived as always in Hogsmead. His breath caught as he saw the castle. It appeared different in every light and was unrecognizable now, in the shaded gaze of the moon and from an angle that accentuated the fortress aspect of his great school, and truly, home. The castle would be locked and barred to visitors and without Dumbledore as a personal escort there were few ways in when one wasn't supposed to be out. He entered the castle through the secret passage in Honeyduke's cellar. This was a secret to most but as he thought he came up with a group of four that most likely knew this path already. It was odd to think of them as neutral.

As he walked through these darkened hallways he pondered a lot of things that needed to be thought of, if just so he knew how to respond if asked.

He had never hated them, but neutral implied they held some good and after today he believed he had found enough good to explain away their reckless behavior. They were rude and rash because who wouldn't be with the happiness they had to expect everyday? Who wouldn't be happy when they didn't have to see the Dark Lord at his beck and call? They didn't need to grow up, so who would. When someone looks after them why should they learn to face the truth that mean fought and died for. When a werewolf was your own personal protector who needed to worry.

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