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Voldemort was in his private rooms, when he heard the door leading in slam, loudly. Startled, he stood up, heading towards the next room, his wand drawn, ready to curse the hell out of whomever it was that dared to enter his rooms without an invitation. Nothing crossed his mind about Severus, who he thought would still be at Hogwarts, waiting with baited breath for the Christmas Holidays where he could escape back to his true home.
"Draco Malfoy is a fool!" Voldemort heard from the next room, frowning, he walked through the door just in time to see Severus throw one of his Masters glass ornaments across the room.
"What on earth is the matter, Severus?" Voldemort asked, shocked.
"He is going to get caught!" Severus yelled at Voldemort. "I did not tell you about the necklace to save him from your wrath but this time I do not care!" He picked up another ornament and threw it.
"Severus!" Voldemort said again, and quickly walked over to the Defence Teacher and held his wrist in front of him. "Calm down, and explain to me what you are talking about, instantly."
Something in that sentence seemed to work, because Severus managed to calm himself down rapidly. "Filch, the caretaker, caught him sneaking around while Slughorn held one of his ridiculous parties in which half the bloody school was invited to, and I tried to talk to him, in my office, offered him help, but he was not having any of it and stormed out, claiming I am trying to steal his glory." He took in a deep, angry breath. "As if I need his glory! The boy does not understand how he could never be your favourite, it is not possible."
Voldemort kissed Severus lightly on the forehead. "What is this about a necklace?"
Severus looked annoyed with himself for a moment. "I swore I would protect him, I swore an Unbreakable Vow…"
"Like you also swore the Death Eater oath to me, and I promise you, my power is a lot more then that of an Unbreakable Vow. If you are telling me this out of your duty to me, which you are, you will be perfectly safe," Voldemort said quickly.
Severus swallowed nervously, and nodded. "Draco tried to somehow get Dumbledore to touch a poisoned necklace from Borgin and Burkes, except it got into the wrong hands, and a student touched it." Severus was back to fuming again, his nerves forgotten. "Stealing his glory! What a ridiculous thought! I have been in your service for years, I have enough glory to bask in! And much more to come! Think of my reward for my years of service, just think of it!" Severus continued. "He will surely destroy his family name if he keeps on like this."
"Severus, my dear, calm down," Voldemort repeated, silkily. "Sit down, have a drink." He steered his lover over to the sofa, and pressed a glass of expensive port into his hand, quickly pouring himself one, and sitting down close to Severus. "Draco is indeed acting the spoiled child. We only have his mother to blame for that. If he will not accept your help when he quite plainly needs it, I shall be speaking to him over this up and coming holiday."
"Unless I kill him first," Severus growled.
"Shush, you are angry. I shall deal with this as soon as the holidays begin. You will order him to come to me as soon as he gets off the Hogwarts Express in London. I expect you will Apparate over here straight as soon as the students leave, anyhow," Voldemort responded.
"Bellatrix has been teaching him Occlumency," Severus said after a moment. A new train of thought reached his mind. "He even admitted to the fact he has been avoiding me all of this term. It is ridiculous, Voldemort," he snapped, as the Dark Lord handed him another drink, which he quickly downed.
"Come to bed, Severus, bring yourself another drink and we shall resume our conversation there." Voldemort stood up, a little stiffly, as if he had been sitting down of a long time. He extended his pale hand to Severus, who gratefully took it, taking a moment once he was standing to kiss Voldemort briefly on the lips, before following him into their bedroom.
Severus quickly undressed himself, and dove thankfully into the soft, silky sheets of his favourite bed. "It is wonderful to be back in this bed," Severus said to Voldemort, as his Master slid in beside him.
"Mmm," Voldemort grunted in reply. "Come here."
Smiling, Severus shifted himself over, and turned, resting his head on Voldemort's shoulder, arms tightly around his body. Voldemort in return had his arms around Severus's back, keeping them close together. "This is my favourite part of being with you," Severus murmured.
"And mine," Voldemort replied shortly, Severus knew he meant well, the Dark Lord was obviously not one for talking about things such as there, and Severus always knew when to leave it.
"What will you say to Draco?" Severus asked softly, fully aware that he was slowly falling asleep.
"I will tell him to respect his betters and elders," Voldemort replied. "I am surprised Lucius did not teach him that. No matter, it will be corrected by next week."
Severus nodded. "I have to be up early in the morning, Voldemort, I do have a class to teach. Potter, I believe." He smiled, knowing full well what Voldemort would love to do if he could… That being taking a drink of Polyjuice Potion to look like Severus, get into Hogwarts and then kill Potter.
"It hardly seems fair. You see Potter every day and complain about it whenever you see me, yet if I were to come face to face with him once more, I should enjoy it very much."
"You fancy him really," Severus said, sleepily, a grin forming on his face.
"I will be enjoying your company a lot more if you close your mouth," Voldemort responded, poking Severus in the back with his wand.
"I'll close my eyes too," Severus returned light-heartedly. "Goodnight, Voldemort."
The Dark Lord hastily pressed a heated kiss onto his lovers mouth before he, in turn, dropped off to sleep.
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The doors of the meeting room banged open, and Severus charged in, and sat down at the empty seat to Voldemort's left. "Ah, Severus," the Dark Lord chimed sarcastically. "Nice to see you so early."
Severus shot him a glare, ignoring the other members present. He was nearly two hours late, but that was only because Dumbledore had kept him talking, and hadn't let him go to his Christmas break on time. "Not a problem, my Lord," he said, just as sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at his Master, who simply smirked it return.
Severus knew that the other Death Eaters were aware that something wasn't quite right between the Dark Lord and himself. Of course, the Hogwarts teacher could always get away with murder, and the Master would always accept Severus's cheek, with minimal punishment. Severus quickly noticed that Bellatrix was on the Dark Lord's right side, opposite him, wondering if she was still after Voldemort. "Malfoy will be here soon. I told him to Apparate here once they are half way to London."
"Good. We were just saying, Severus, the Ministry are doing all they can in their power to make Hogwarts in their own control," Voldemort said, gesturing to the others around him.
"It will never happen," Severus responded dryly. "The new Minister cannot keep making the same mistakes that Fudge did."
"Politicians are all the same really, my Lord," Bellatrix said, with a smile. Severus suppressed the urge to kill her.
"Indeed," Voldemort responded, and under the table Severus felt a hand brush lightly against his thigh. The Dark Lord suddenly became very impatient, and stood up, snapping an order. "You may all leave. I have a matter to peak with Severus about which cannot wait. You shall be informed of this when I have his opinions."
As the Death Eaters stood around them to leave, Severus noticed a very angry expression on Bellatrix's face. He smirked at her, realising that it was because she was not going to be included in the first discussions of a plan. Voldemort's eyes were fixed on her as she managed to still be in the room when everyone else had gone.
"Bellatrix."
The woman jumped, and turned back to look at him. "Yes, my Lord?" she said, a small smile appearing on her lips, as if she thought he was going to ask her to stay. Severus shot him a glare, he was not going to be happy if Voldemort let her.
"Get out," Voldemort hissed venomously. A vaguely hurt look came about her, before she turned and fled from the room. If Severus had been in her shoes, he would have fled as well, and considering how furious Voldemort looked, Severus was tempted to do the same. Once the Dark Lord had been put in a bad mood, it was impossible for anyone except for Severus to change that, and even then it took a lot of effort on his part. "What kept you, Severus?"
Severus looked back to Voldemort. "Dumbledore is an amazing man, you know, Voldemort," he said softly. The Dark Lord raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "He can talk for hours on the most boring and pointless matters that do not matter to anyone except for himself…"
Voldemort smiled coldly. "You will not have to be around him for much longer now, my love," he said, putting one hand on Severus's leg gently. Severus shifted his chair slightly to he was closer to his lover. "Which is what I wanted to talk to you about. This constant thought of Dumbledore's death has made me start to think about after the event has taken place. I have been thinking only of our future and of nothing else, I fear… Dumbledore dead will not give me control of Hogwarts, and certainly not the Ministry, which is why I want to act now. So, I propose sending several unknown Death Eaters in, to get jobs, to curse a few well chosen people, until slowly, the place is filled mainly with our people, driving out the ones that fight, until it is ours."
Severus finished listening, and finally nodded. "I believe that will work, as long as we can keep this quiet from the normal Magical people. The important people, ultimately. We do not want them to know that we have taken over, they will naturally want to fight it, and they must think all the changes that will be made have been made by their own Minister."
"If we can gain control of what is put into the Prophet, that shouldn't be too much of a problem," Voldemort responded after a moments thought. "We will then make suggestions for the new Head of Hogwarts once Dumbledore is dead." His gaze tightened on Severus. "I have one candidate in mind."
Severus looked back at Voldemort, and swallowed lightly. The gaze on his was hardening by the second. "I… Surely…" He leant forwards, looking back into Voldemort's beautiful red eyes. "Me?"
"Remember, Severus, Lord Voldemort always rewards his most loyal followers," the Dark Lord said softly.
"I thought my reward was to be you!" Severus said, quickly, hoping that the Dark Lord hadn't suddenly changed his mind.
"You have that reward," Voldemort replied, touching the emerald ring on Severus's finger lightly. "You have me. At Hogwarts, as Headmaster, you will have everything you could ever dream of. Power, wealth, I would be able to stay with you undetected, and you could come to me whenever I wanted you here and no one could complain."
Severus sat still, silent and stunned. "I do not know what to say," he said quietly. "I… Well, of course, it is an honour… It makes sense, of course…"
"It does, Severus," Voldemort said quietly. "Are you certain you want this?"
"Yes, I am. You know I hate to be sitting around doing nothing all day, I would much prefer to be at Hogwarts torturing Gryffindor's."
Voldemort chuckled. "Which is why you were my first choice, naturally. I knew this would make you happy."
Severus nodded. "Yes. Sometimes I fear you know me better then I know myself."
"Perhaps I do, my love. I like to think that most of the time," Voldemort said, with a smile. If Severus had seen his Master in any other light then the one he already did, he would have found the words creepy or sinister, but Severus was very much in love with Voldemort and understood him better then anyone else. The feelings were returned, Severus knew, and had often vowed to himself never to loose that connection with his lover.
"I would do anything for you," Severus said softly. "I would never doubt your intentions for a second."
"I know, I would do anything for you under the right circumstances. You understand, Severus." There was a pause. "I am immortal. I want you to be the same. Together forever, Severus, that's what I want. Even when times have been hard, I have always trusted you with my life, and I will always do so. You, Severus Snape," Voldemort continued, his gaze never leaving his lovers eyes for a second, "Are the most special man I have ever met, and I just want to make you happy."
Severus was stunned. The Dark Lord had never, ever said anything like that to him before, and he was completely shocked. "T… Thank you," Severus said, his voice shaking. "My role is not finished until we have won. You will be mine when we have won, as we said on the night you returned. We must stick to that." As he spoke, Voldemort's thin lips were millimetres away from his own. Severus smiled, and closed the gap, kissing Voldemort for less then a minute when there was a quiet tap on the door.
"Draco…" Severus groaned in a whisper.
"Go and open the door," Voldemort snapped, sitting down in annoyance. As Severus stood up, he realised that the bad mood was back, and now Draco was really going to be in trouble. He opened the door, nodding to the pale boy in front of him. As Draco entered, Severus shut the door behind them, and went back to his seat.
Draco walked towards the pair, eyes downcast. "On your knees," Voldemort hissed, gesturing with his hand to the floor in front of him. Draco did as he was told, silently. "You are not progressing," the Dark Lord continued. "Dumbledore is still alive. Lord Voldemort is most disappointed."
Severus had heard about the Dark Lord's disappointment many a time, and mostly the person he said it to was dead within ten minutes. He knew Voldemort was not going to kill Draco, or at least he hoped, and he relaxed slightly.
"I need only a little more time, my Lord," Draco said quietly. "If Professor Snape would stop putting my helpers in detention, I-" He trailed off as he felt and saw a wand pointing to his throat.
"Do not blame Snape," Voldemort said, in a deathly voice. "He has to do his own job in Hogwarts." The Dark Lord stood up, and slowly walked around the kneeling blonde, putting away his wand. "Which brings me along to another matter. You continue to flout Severus when he offers his assistance, and I in turn shall concur with Severus. You evidently are in need of some aid, in which Severus would be most contented to give to you."
There was silence from both Severus and Draco, as the Dark Lord continued to pace around the room. He stopped just behind Severus, and placed one hand on his shoulder. "This man is my most favoured subject, in offending him, you have offended me. Let this be a lesson to you, Malfoy. You are young, and have yet to learnt how my cause works, though you think that you know everything." There was a pause. "Your attitude must recover, or else your position in my court, should we win the war, will diminish."
Draco's silence was starting to grind on the Dark Lord's nerves, Severus could tell. "Have you nothing to say?" Voldemort asked, a note of disbelief clear in his voice.
The young Slytherin looked up, and shook his head. "Please forgive me, Master," he said softly, his voice shaking a little, dropping his head back down. Instantly, Severus knew that Draco had said the wrong thing. The Dark Lord never forgave anyone for any mistakes or rudeness, for anything at all.
His mood swinging to violent instantly, Voldemort grabbed the blonde's hair, and wrenched his head back, pulling hard. "I never forgive," he snapped. "Nor do I forget. You would do well to remember that." Slowly, he released his hold on Malfoy's hair, and pushed him back so he was laying face down on the floor. "Have you anything to say, Severus?" Voldemort asked, eyes flashing.
"Only that I am in agreement with you. The boy needs to grow up, and quickly. I have always done my utmost for his during his time at school, and now I think that it is his time to pay me back with at least a little respect, which I believe I have earned with him." Severus paused. "The other day in my office was exceptionally disrespectful on your part, and I was most outraged at your words and actions. I do not need your glory, I have enough of my own."
"My father always warned me of people trying to steal my glory!" Draco said suddenly, his head snapping up.
"Your father warned you of lesser members of this group trying to steal your glory. People that would steal your glory are the likes of Crabbe, and Goyle, and that Parkinson girl you insist on screwing," Severus responded harshly.
"Surely, Malfoy, you work for the glory of your Master, and not for your own, personal glory?" Voldemort asked, quietly. The look on Draco's face told Severus that he understood his mistake.
"Y-yes, of course, my Lord," Draco responded, his voice trembling noticeably this time.
"I think that it is time for you to understand what being a Death Eater really means," Severus said. "Pure, unadulterated loyalty. You do not work for yourself, you work for your Master."
"And Malfoy," Voldemort snapped, as the boys' head sank down. "Severus is my most faithful follower. If you want to be as powerful and important as he is, I suggest you follow his advice."
"I will, my Lord," Draco responded swiftly. "I will not disappoint you, Master."
Voldemort nodded. "Do so again and I shall kill you. You had better hope I feel merciful should that happen, as I will gladly take several weeks to do the deed." Draco paled another few shades. "Now, go home, and think about an appropriate plan of action you will be needing to take. If you need help, go immediately to Severus, when you return to Hogwarts."
"Yes, my Lord," came the response from the young Death Eater, though it was slightly more sulky this time. He stood up, and bowed to the Dark Lord, not looking at Severus, and hastily retreated from the room.
"Do you think it will work?" Severus asked Voldemort carefully.
"I don't know," Voldemort replied, with a sigh. "I am giving him a second chance because he is a Malfoy, I do not want one of the best pure-blooded lines we have left to dry out. He is the Malfoy's only hope."
"Luckily, he is not our only hope," Severus replied. "He may surprise us all."
"And what a surprise it will be..." Voldemort muttered. "Now, Severus, where were we?"
Severus smirked, and stood up, taking his lovers hands and pulling him up to his feet. "Here, I believe," he said, swooping in to kiss Voldemort hard on the lips.
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It was April, slowly becoming Spring. The snow had melted by the warm sun, and the Spring flowers were coming out everywhere.
A small patch of daffodils were suddenly stood on by an extremely worked up Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, who was almost running up the front garden of the Dark Lord's Manor. He needed to speak to his Master.
As he got into the entrance hall, he noticed Bellatrix was out there, talking in hushed tones to her sister. Taking advantage of Bellatrix's uncanny ways of always knowing where the Dark Lord was, he walked towards them. "Bellatrix," he called. "Where is the Dark Lord?"
Bellatrix turned around with a scowl. She had bags under her eyes, more then ever, and looked very pale and ill. "Library," she snapped. "Should you not be teaching?" she sneered.
"I have news," Severus replied shortly, and turned and ran up the steps towards the library. He opened the door, and walked in. "Voldemort, are you in here?" he called.
He heard stirrings from the back of the room, and Voldemort's head withdrew from behind one of the rows of books. "Oh, it is you," he said.
"Well obviously, no one else would be saying your name," Severus snapped.
"What has happened?" Voldemort asked, stepping towards his lover, and enveloping him in his arms.
"What hasn't," Severus muttered. "Two things. A couple of weeks ago, Dumbledore asked me to make investigations in Slytherin House. It appears that someone has told him that Draco sent that necklace, although we have no evidence yet, Dumbledore wants me to find it." Voldemort raised an eyebrow.
"I take it you have not been able to get away until now?"
"No." Severus's hands were shaking as Voldemort pulled back to look at him properly.
"Severus, you are covered in blood, what have you been doing?" he asked, shocked.
"I found Draco covered in blood with Potter stood over him," Severus replied grimly. "He used one of my spells. I do not understand how he could have learnt that, or where he heard about it. Very few know about it…"
Voldemort frowned, and then put his arms back around Severus, and kissed him gently on the lips. "Do not worry about it. Is Draco alright?"
"He will be fine," Severus replied quietly. "I need a drink."
Voldemort led Severus to the table he had just left, and poured him a drink of brandy. Severus downed it gratefully. "I am glad that you cannot survive the day without alcohol," Severus said, with a smile.
"I ended up drinking with Bellatrix last night," Voldemort said as he sat down. "She is funny when she is drunk, I must admit, though I spent most of the night wishing it was you who I was with. At least when you are drunk, I get fantastic sex afterwards."
Severus smirked. "What were you talking about? Did you tell her the plan?"
"I mentioned it, she was so drunk I doubt she will remember it."
"I saw her downstairs, she didn't look very well," Severus said, laughing. "Oh I hope that headache she has hurts. What made you drink with her, anyway?"
Voldemort was silent for a moment. "I found her perched on the top of the banister at the top of my staircase, about to slide down, with a bottle of Firewhiskey in one hand. An empty bottle. She'd drunk the whole lot." Voldemort smirked. "Anyway, I picked her up and carried her to my rooms and put her on the sofa before she fell off and killed herself. I wanted some company, anyway."
Severus laughed. "She is hilarious when she is drunk, I will admit. What did you talk about?"
"She wanted to know how things were between us, and I told her they are brilliant. She seemed quiet happy about that, to be honest. Then I asked her if she was alright without her husband here, and she said that she really misses him and wants to see him again. I suppose it is time for me to go and get them out of there…" Voldemort paused, and took a sip of his drink. "And then she wanted some brandy, so I gave her a triple to silence her for a while. Of course, that backfired, she talks a lot when she's drunk. She asked me whether I have forgiven her for what happened at the Ministry, and I told her no, and that I was expecting to see her perform better in the future. Then I went to bed, and left her to sleep on the sofa, conjured her up some pillows and a duvet. She was just waking up when I was in there this morning, she was rough and asked me if she'd said anything offensive and if she had she was sorry."
"Nothing that exciting happened then really," Severus said, finishing his drink.
"Not really," Voldemort replied. "But you forgot your troubles for a minute or two."
Severus smiled gratefully. "I can see that my problems at Hogwarts are nothing compared to yours here, with a drunk Bellatrix."
"It was amusing, Nagini came in and saw me with her, and gave me a foul look and hissed something to the effect of 'you disturb me, Master' before going into my bedroom. That snake worries me, she's taken to sleeping in my bed with me when you are not here, and will not tell me why." There was suddenly a loud hissing sound behind him, and Severus noticed a long, black snake behind him, sliding across the table towards the Dark Lord. Voldemort laughed, and hissed something back, before looking at Severus. "She says that she could smell Malfoy blood from the garden and was wondering if you killed him."
"She is one of the Horcruxes, isn't she," Severus asked suddenly.
Voldemort nodded slowly. "I have to look after her, if she dies, there's one piece of me gone. However, I think that while she has me within her, she cannot die. I certainly hope." His gaze was back to Severus. "Busy this afternoon?"
"No," Severus replied, and then a small smile appeared on his lips. "Why, are you suggesting something?"
Voldemort reached across the table, and kissed him passionately on the lips. "Yes," he breathed. "And where better, but my very private and out-of-bounds library?"
Severus laughed. "No where," he responded, and let Voldemort take him over, covering him with kisses. He would always have enough time for this.