Dear readers,
Thank you very much for your reviews. Just a quick note; from this chapter onwards, there will be minor spoilers, getting more and more major as the story progresses. These should not, however, effect your enjoyment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This story has now been made AU, and hence, will not be following the plot of book seven identically because certain parts of the book upset me. Those who have read it will understand, those who haven't will understand soon I am sure :)
-Excessively Complex
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Severus was sitting in his chambers at Hogwarts, tense. He knew that the Death Eaters were attacking the school tonight. Draco had finally worked out a way for them to get in, and tonight was the night of Dumbledore's death. Their orders were simple – kill all in their way of Dumbledore, all except for Harry Potter who was not to be touched.
There was a loud knock on the door. "Severus!" a voice called, and opened up the door. Severus noticed it was Flitwick.
"What's the matter, Filius?" Severus asked.
"Death Eaters, attacking the school!" Flitwick gasped. Severus rolled his eyes, and raised his wand. "Stupify!" he said softly, and stepped over the slumped body. When he opened the door, he noticed Granger and Lovegood there. "Granger, Lovegood, deal with Professor Flitwick, he isn't well," he ordered, before turning, and running up to the Entrance Hall. There were spells flying everywhere, he could see Death Eaters duelling students. He pushed through the crowd, neither side hurting him at all. He ran up to the top of the Astronomy Tower to see what was going on around the rest of the school, in time to hear -
"Draco, do it, or stand aside so one of us –"
He burst through the door of the ramparts, his wand clutched in his hand as he surveyed the scene, looking from Dumbledore's form slumped against the wall, to the four Death Eaters, including the enraged werewolf, and Malfoy.
"We've got a problem, Snape," said Amycus, whose eyes and wand were fixed alike upon Dumbledore. "The boy doesn't seem able –"
"Severus..." Severus looked to where the sound had come, and saw it was Dumbledore. A wave of fury hit him. Dumbledore was pleading.
Severus was silent, and walked forwards and pushed Malfoy roughly out of the way. The three Death Eaters fell back without a word, as Severus would have expected from them. He was too important for argument. Severus gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, hatred showing clearly on his face. This man was suddenly pathetic to him, Voldemort had been right, Dumbledore wasn't as strong as Severus had originally thought. "Severus... please..." Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. "Avada Kedavra!" he cried, and watched as the body flew over the battlements and out of sight.
"Out of here, quickly," said Severus after a moments pause, grabbing Draco and pulling him though the door, followed by the other three. He started to run, dragging Draco behind him. "Come, Draco, we have to get out of here before the Order turns up."
Seeing other Death Eaters still battling, Severus shouted, "It's over, time to go!" repeatedly, until they seemed to get the message.
They were almost at the gates of the school, running as fast as they could so they could disapparate from here, from the scene, so that Severus could finally be with his Master, his lover… A beam of red light almost hit him. He turned, and saw Potter. "Run, Draco," he shouted, pushing the blonde away from him. Eyes fixed on Potter, he raised his wand, simultaneously to his former student.
"Cruc-" Harry started to speak, but Severus countered it, knocking Harry off his feet with his spell. This time, Severus would be better prepared.
"Cruc -" yelled Harry for the second time, but Severus blocked the spell again, sneering.
"No Unforgivable Curses from you, Potter!" he shouted. "You haven't got the nerve or the ability -"
"Incarc-" Harry roared, but Snape deflected the spell with a lazy and easy flick of his arm. "Fight back!" Harry screamed at him. "Fight back, you cowardly-"
"Coward, did you call me, Potter?" Severus yelled. "Your father would never attack me unless it was four on one, what would you call him, I wonder?"
"Stupe-"
"Blocked again and again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!" sneered Snape, deflecting the curse once more. "Now come," he shouted at Rowle, who was just behind Harry. "It is time to be gone before the Ministry turns up-" Harry was about to jinx him again, he was prepared to block it, but Rowle got there first with the Cruciatus. "No!" roared Severus. "Have you forgotten our orders? Potter belongs to the Dark Lord - we are to leave him! Go! Go!" Rowle moved away from Potter, terror showing on his face, knowing he was going to be in trouble now. Severus was pleased.
"Sectum- "
Snape flicked his wand, furious, all laughed gone from his face. Potter was not going to be using his own spells against him.
Looking into his eyes, Severus could tell what was coming next. "No, Potter!" he screamed, his wand emitting a loud band, and Potter was thrown backwards. Severus moved over to him, anger and adrenaline coursing through his veins, looking down at him. "You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It was I who invented them - I, the Half-Blood Prince! And you'd turn my inventions on me, like your filthy father, would you? I don't think so… No!"
Harry had dived for his wand, Severus quickly hexed it, and it moved out of sight. "Kill me then," said Harry. "Kill me like you killed him, you coward-"
"DON'T-" screamed Snape, and he was over the edge, the fury was uncontrollable -"CALL ME COWARD!" He slashed his wand though he air, whipping Potter across the face with his spell, not bothered to watch as he fell to the ground.
Severus turned, and ran towards where he could see Draco waiting, just outside the boundaries of the school. He grabbed the boys arm, and disapparated them both back to the Dark Lord's Manor.
"You are lucky I was there at that moment," Severus told Draco shortly and he dragged him up towards the Manor. "He is going to be furious with you."
He yanked open the front door, and headed straight for the meeting room, throwing Draco in through the door face first. As he walked in, he saw Draco had fallen over, and Voldemort was in there, with several other Death Eaters who had been some of the first to follow his orders and return.
"Well?" Voldemort snapped, standing up and walking towards Severus, as he removed his cloak and threw it onto the table next to Voldemort's Throne.
"It is done," Severus replied simply. "Just as we expected it to be done, I must add." He looked down at Malfoy, who was slowly starting to sit up, his nose bleeding freely. "Crucio," he spat, disgusted by Malfoy's lack of backbone. Voldemort made no move to stop him, he could see how angry Severus was.
A moment later, Severus stopped, and kicked Draco onto his back. "YOUR FATHER WOULD BE DISGUSTED," he shouted down at the boy. "Coward!"
"Now, now, Severus," Voldemort said, and Severus could detect a slight tone of danger in his lovers voice. "Let's save it for when the others get back. Stand in your place. Malfoy, get up, and stand next to Severus." Both did as they were told, Severus shot a hard look at his Master to detect some emotion, and saw only how his mood wasn't all that bad, he was just angry with Draco for failing. Voldemort turned around to face him as he felt his mind penetrated, and their eyes met, and for a second, Severus felt like he would melt under the hot gaze. His stomach back flipped, and he calmed down slightly, thinking about his reward.
When everyone was in the room, Voldemort cleared his throat. "Dumbledore is dead," he said, quietly, and there was a great deal of cheering and clapping around the room. "Our congratulations must go, of course, to my dear Severus Snape…" The clapping and cheering continued as he spoke. "Yes, well done, Severus," he said, bowing his head slightly to his lover. "However." The one word changed the whole group- the clapping and cheering very quickly faded out into an uneasy silence. "There are punishments to be dealt." He started to pace around the circle, looking at each member while he continued. "I have been lenient recently, as I am a merciful Lord… But when things go wrong… When people make mistakes… Unforgivable mistakes… I have to deal with things… Appropriately…" He reached Draco, and a malicious expression started to appear on his face.
"You knew what your task was, did you not, Malfoy?" he hissed.
"Y-Yes, my L-Lord," Draco replied, his voice trembling. He was terrified, yet Severus felt nothing towards his student, only anger and disappointment.
"You failed," Voldemort said softly. "You failed your Master, your Father, your entire family-" He turned to look at Bellatrix. "Do you agree, Bella?" he asked, softly. Bellatrix nodded slowly, eyes fixed firmly on Draco. "You see, when you disappoint Lord Voldemort, you disappoint everyone around you. I know, you are young, you do not understand…"
"His age has nothing to do with it," Severus snapped. "You know as well as I do, my Lord, that several of your members managed harder tasks when they were his age."
Voldemort looked to Severus, a glint appearing in his eyes. "Tut tut…" he murmured. "You have done a good job of angering Severus, Draco," he said, quietly, though everyone in the room heard him perfectly. "My dear, control yourself," he added, to Severus. "There will be plenty of time soon to deal with your anger, keep it within you until the time is right." Voldemort turned his attention back to Draco. "One thing I am sure you do understand is that… Well, Malfoy, you are going to be punished. I have punished only one person to this extent since my return… Your aunt, I do believe…" Voldemort turned around to look at Bellatrix once again, who had turned a deep shade of red. "Unless Severus has something to say which may… Soften… my mood?" He looked back to his lover.
Severus shook his head. "You wanted me to inform you of anyone who touched Potter?" he said boldly.
Voldemort's eyes flashed bright red for a moment, and Severus knew that this was a sign of deep, deep fury. "Who touched him? Who dared-" He looked back to Severus.
"Rowle," Severus whispered. "No one else could have."
Voldemort's gaze shifted to where the huge Death Eater was standing. "What is this, Rowle?" he hissed venomously. "Are you not capable of following orders?"
"Snape did the same!" Rowle said quickly, looking back to Severus. Voldemort tilted his head to one side for a moment, eyes back to Severus, who simply laughed.
"You used the Cruciatus Curse on him, Rowle, it was an unprovoked attack!" He looked back to Voldemort.
"You attacked-"Voldemort started to speak, turning fully back to Severus, shock showing clearly on his face.
"For reasons we have discussed before."
Voldemort narrowed his eyes at Severus for a moment, and then looked back to Rowle. "It appears that Severus did it so he could get away, Potter was not going to be letting him… But you… Rowle…" Voldemort raised his wand. "Crucio!" he hissed, the spell hitting Rowle square in the chest. He turned, and walked back to where Severus was standing, ignoring the screams coming from behind him. "Finite-" he murmured, and the screams were replaced by loud gasps of air. "Potter goes untouched until I say," he hissed to the group surrounding him, with venom, pure anger. He turned, and returned to his Throne, seating himself down. "Severus, come here." He pointed to the right side of his chair where there was a smaller one. "Sit." Severus quickly did as he was told, and noticed suddenly that Nagini was draped around the back of the Throne, and was moving around Voldemort's shoulders. The Dark Lord absently began to stroke the snakes huge head, and Nagini was obviously enjoying this attention. "Malfoy, in the middle."
Draco slowly walked forwards, into the middle of the circle, visibly shaking.
"You will now understand what being a Death Eater is." He sat forwards, and addressed the group. "You may each do what you will with him. One round. Do not disappoint me." He sat back, lazily watching as the first person stepped forwards and began, pulling out a knife and cutting Draco's robes open and ripping them off his shoulders. Underneath, Draco was wearing his school uniform, which was quickly removed with a spell. Now he was wearing only black boxer shorts, which the man did not remove. Instead, he cut slowly down Draco's chest, not deep enough to kill him, but deep enough for there to be a lot of blood. Draco screamed.
"Must we do this?" Severus asked Voldemort quietly, and the jeers around them grew louder.
"You know the Death Eaters expect it," Voldemort said, his eyes not leaving Draco for a second. "They all enjoy it, you are the only one that does not."
"You enjoy it too much," Severus remarked, noticing a small smile on his lovers lips.
"Severus, everyone is partaking. I will be at the end… Saving the best until last… Although, Bellatrix is getting into this so much I fear she may better me…" He watched as Bellatrix started with the Cruciatus Curse on her Nephew, and continued with a series of curses, very unpleasant curses which Severus could not bear to watch anymore. "Severus, everyone can see how you hate this, and they will not stand for it for much longer. If you want to be my second in title, then act a bit." Severus looked back to Draco. The jeers and laughter around him were drowning out the screams. "You will go after Yaxley," Voldemort said softly. "I will go after you."
Severus swallowed lightly. "What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to hurt him," Voldemort said, his eyes back to Draco. "Like it or not, you have to do this. You have to get over this hatred of it." He was silent, until Yaxley was done, and Severus stood up, and started to walk towards Draco, his wand raised.
"Severus, wait." Severus turned around, hopeful for a moment, until he saw the malicious look in Voldemort's eyes. "I want you to use… Use this…" Voldemort reached behind the Throne, and pulled out a long, thin whip, with tiny spikes poking out of the end in all directions. "Alecto, Amycus, stand him up and hold his arms," Voldemort ordered, holding the whip out to Severus, who took it, slowly, looking into Voldemort's eyes pleadingly. The Dark Lord simply nodded to Severus, and then held up his left hand, stroking his emerald ring lightly. Severus felt a cool, loving grasp on his hand, and realised these rings had more of a connection then he had realised. With a short nod, he turned to face Draco. "Thirty lashes should be enough, Severus," he heard Voldemort say. "Malfoy can count for us."
Severus raised his hand back, and flicked the handle of the whip hard, and there was a loud crack, and a scream of "One!" from Draco.
Crack!
"T-Two!" Draco managed.
Crack!
"T-T-Three-" He whispered.
Crack!
By the time Draco had said the number thirty, his back was raw, dripping blood. The Carrows let go of his arms, and he feel to the ground, sobbing, crying into his own pool of blood that he was laid in. Voldemort stood up, with an approving nod to Severus.
"Wait-" Severus said suddenly, turning to the Dark Lord. "I have more I wish to do, my Lord."
Voldemort raised an eyebrow to Severus, and then sat back down. "Continue, please-" he said, with a gesture of his hand.
Severus turned back to Draco, collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. "I have one thing more to say to you, Draco," he said, kicking his former student onto his raw back. "Sectumsempra," he said, waving his wand. A long, thin and very deep wound spread along Draco's stomach and chest. "Remember that, Draco," he whispered to the young man, before turning on his heel, and walking back to the Dark Lord, who stood up, and in turn started towards Severus, placing one hand on the small of his back and guiding him further back towards Draco.
"One punishment remains…" Voldemort said, silkily, caressing his wand, Nagini hissing on his shoulder. "And you may beg, Draco, beg for your Master to be merciful… There is none who can perform this spell as I can…" Voldemort raised his wand, and wordlessly performed the Cruciatus Curse. The screams were loud to start off with, and almost instantly, Draco started to gargle on his own blood, he had bitten his tongue so hard- Severus stood close behind Voldemort, and suddenly, he didn't care. Draco had disrespected him for the last year, and Severus knew he deserved what he was getting.
He could hear Draco begging for mercy, though it was drowned mostly by his screams.
After what seemed like an eternity, Voldemort stopped, and returned to his Throne. "Bellatrix, take Draco to his mother and make sure he is cleaned up." Bellatrix nodded, and stepped forwards, lifting Draco up with a spell and leading him from the room. "The rest of you may leave. Think of this... I have been merciful... Remember not to disappoint me in the future."
Severus returned to his seat next to Voldemort's chair, his hands shaking and covered in blood. When he looked up, the room was empty apart from Voldemort, who had performed a quick cleaning spell to remove the blood and vomit from the floor, and wherever else it had gone. When he was done, he stopped and looked at Severus. "Well done, my love… You have pleased me greatly tonight, and now it is my turn to please you." He walked slowly towards Severus, and kissed him hard on the lips, silently performing a cleaning spell on both of them.
"I love you," Severus murmured, kissing Voldemort again.
"I love you too," Voldemort replied through his kisses. He picked Severus up and sat him on the Throne, before kneeling in front of him, and kissing down his thighs, do his knees, and back up. Severus moaned lightly, and pulled Voldemort up to his level, kissing him. He heard angry hissing from behind him, and Voldemort laughed, and hissed back, as Nagini slithered out of the room. "Jealous snake," he commented to Severus, before resuming his kissing. "My Severus… My love…" Voldemort whispered into Severus's ear, suckling lightly on his earlobe, and kissing down his neck, and onto his collar bone, moving Severus's robe to one side, searching for more exposed skin to kiss. "Hogwarts is as good as ours, my love, and I must reward you for this…" Severus smiled, and moaned as Voldemort resumed with his kissing once more, exceptionally glad suddenly that Draco had messed up…
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Severus and Voldemort were seated by the window, looking out, talking. "Do you think it is time to release the others from prison?" Voldemort asked suddenly. Severus could tell it had been playing on his mind for a while now.
"In all honesty, I think you should, yes," Severus replied. "As long as we can keep it quiet from the world, it shouldn't be a problem." Severus yawned slightly. "Did you speak to Yaxley?"
"I spoke to him last week, he's in the Ministry, not a problem. Actually, you have personal experience with his boss- Dolores Umbridge. She's taken quite a shine to him, apparently. She hates muggle borns, you know. We could quite easily start a regime to send all to Azkaban, or something..." Voldemort smirked.
"I would have no objections with that."
"I had a thought when you were asleep last night," said Voldemort. He never managed to sleep as much as Severus could, and normally stayed up, reading, planning, thinking.
"Should I run away now?" Severus asked softly, smirking. Voldemort ignored him.
"I want to run everything through you before we make any definate plans in the future, Severus. I have had to exclude you from a lot of things, and now I don't have to."
"I would like that..." Severus said after a moment. "It will be nice to finally be included in everything."
"And there was another matter Yaxley brought up - the Ministry wants to track down the Order of the Phoenix. Umbridge has become obsessed with it since her time at Hogwarts." Severus smirked as Voldemort continued. "So they have come up with something very interesting, very interesting indeed... Similar to the Track, though this time, it's a certain name, which will summon Ministry workers - well, our people, Yaxley will make sure of that - to them, to capture them."
"And don't tell me, they'll use your name," Severus said, laughing. Voldemort nodded, a smile forming on his lips. "So I suppose this means I will not be able to use that name until we have won the war?"
Voldemort nodded again. "But of course, there are always lovely respectful names you could learn to use on me, Severus, I know you struggle, but maybe now we could finally get somewhere with it? We could start just in public, to ease you in," the Dark Lord said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Severus laughed lightly. "I doubt it, but you have my full permission to keep trying. I will have to think up something appropriate... Perhaps if I am feeling very brave, I could call you Tom-" Severus noticed how Voldemort's gaze snapped very hard onto him -"But then, I feel that may eventually end in my brutal and bloody murder, so I will rethink."
"You very nearly died then, Severus," Voldemort hissed, though not quite as venomously as he would have for a minor offence from any other Death Eater.
Severus smiled innocently at his lover. "Take me to bed and punish me..." he whispered, leaning closer to Voldemort, and kissing him hard on the lips. Before Voldemort could protest, he pushed himself into the older mans lap, his lips not leaving contact with the other for a moment.
Voldemort grunted, and picked Severus up with strange, inhuman strength. Severus remembered the extra strong strengthening potion the Dark Lord had taken that morning, and realised he could only blame himself. "Do not tempt me, you impudent brat," he said, flicking his wand, and opening the door to their rooms. He then dropped Severus hard on the bed, and kicked the door shut with his foot. They were not going to be disturbed tonight.