Chapter 31:

Death's game:

The wait stretched along and Severus did his best to suppress his anxiousness, which stubbornly tried to gain the upper hand, in a strong feeling of fear, expectation and insecurity.

He told himself over and over again that it was all planned out to wear him down before the actual torture. He repeated Lucius' lessons in his mind but knowing the why only made the waiting time a bit more bearable. His subconscious betrayed him repeatedly with a deep-seated fear, against which he couldn't do a thing.

So, he was almost relieved when the door opened once again. He looked over to the entrance, trying hard to morph his face into a bored mask. Now, it all was about bringing Lucius to kill him fast.

"Hello Lucius. Back already? Doesn't the dark lord ever give you a break?"

Severus tried his best, to confront the blond deatheater who now entered, followed by Crabbe and Goyle, with nonchalance.

The two bulky deatheaters were not important enough in rank and would be ignored.

However, Lucius didn't let himself be irritated by Severus' greeting and only smiled amused. "As I see, you have kept your sarcasm, Severus. It will be my utmost pleasure to rip that from you."

Again, he crouched down at Severus' side without a sign of trepidation that his former friend and actual prisoner may attack him. He didn't have to worry about it either. Snape was not as stupid and an attack in his current, weakened state wouldn't serve any purpose. Even if the Malfoy-patriarch looked casual and harmless at the moment, he was perfectly able to defend himself if he had to. Severus knew his former friend well and knew how dangerous he really was, and Malfoy knew that his prisoner was well aware of that too.

"What do you think, Severus? Shall we play a bit?"

Snape only shrugged, knowing that the game had already started long ago. "What do you want to play? Chess perhaps? I am not sure if I'm in the mood. Besides, you have lost every time so far whenever we played that."

Again, his comment seemed to rather amuse Malfoy, so Severus didn't immediately see the wand that the other man pulled out of his sleeve, pointing it at him. Then, Malfoy said in an almost gentle voice: "Crucio."

The curse hit him hotly into his right side and shot like a tentacle through his body from there, putting every cell of his body under fire. Severus found it impossible to concentrate on anything else and his conscious thoughts died as he was completely filled by this unsupportable agony. All that still was there besides the pain was the insentient urge, the animalistic instinct to get away from that agony.

Sometimes, after an impossibly long time, the acute pain stopped even if the echo of it still throbbed in Severus' bones, letting his body shake uncontrollably.

As he became aware of his surroundings once more, he realized that he had tipped over and was lying in a ball on the hard ground. His throat was once again burning hellishly, almost overruling the other pain in the rest of his body. Screaming hadn't done good to his already abused throat, but even though he hadn't consciously been aware to scream, he knew that nobody could stop this instinctive reaction of a body, tortured to such a point.

What was even worse then the pain, however was the distant, yet stubborn thought that he would have to taunt Malfoy to repeat the curse over and over again, holding it long enough to kill him.

"Well, Severus? No more sarcasm?" Malfoy's voice came from somewhere above him. The blond wizard had abandoned his amused tone and now sounded angry and disgusted. "I have sworn to make you lose it. I will break you so slowly that you will gladly submit to our master and plead for us to kill you. I will destroy your will and work you into a pathetic piece of misery, whilst your body will be so damaged that it will rot away while you are still alive."

"Fabulous", Snape managed to croak in between some rattling breaths, ignoring the pain that assaulted his throat at every breath. He had to make Lucius kill him. "May I name my first abscess after you?"

Malfoy didn't look very happy that Severus still had enough strength to be cynical.

"You will be sorry for that insolent tongue of yours. Crucio!"

This time, the curse hit him in his abdomen and Severus wasted a fleeting thought about it being even worse than the last one. The agony immobilized him, nested itself deep into his bones and seemed to pull every cell to shreds.

The attack felt like it would last forever and Severus lost, like before, every orientation. There was nothing but pain. Sense-robbing, all consuming pain.

Finally it stopped, and Severus gulped exhausted for air. The agony lessened slowly and he heard the blood roar in his ears, whilst his head threatened to explode.

His throat burned as much as the first time he had woken up and he knew that he wouldn't be able to move or talk, his body still shaking from the aftermath of the curse.

"Well? Still as talkative?" Malfoy taunted from a non-defined place. The words reached him muffled. Dulled by the blood that was still roaring in his ears. His whole body was in pain, even his hair seemed to hurt and all common sense screamed to him not to say anything more, so that Malfoy had no reason to cast the curse again. Everything, only to avoid further agony like this.

Snape swallowed and winced at the new fire in his throat. He couldn't stop now. He had to end it. Only one more time… He had to anger Malfoy enough so that the blond deatheater would not let him survive the next attack. Only one more time, he tried to convince his screaming sense of self-protection. He needed to hit Malfoy with his words, insult him to the point that the other Slytherin would loose control. What was the most important thing to Lucius? Power and control over others.

Taking one more breath he prepared for the new pain in his throat before he spoke, his voice weak and shaking: "What is the matter, Lucius? You appear to be in a sour mood. Did your wife beat you up again?"

Severus was convinced that the fear in his voice may must have been noticeable and it had taken all his willpower not to stutter, but his words seemed not to miss the desired effect on the proud Malfoy. "You filthy son of a bitch! CRUCIO!"

Pain exploded as violently as before and this time Severus was sure that he was being ripped apart by it. Everything blurred, except the burning agony, which seemed to carry him away on razor-sharp wings, the blades of pain cutting deep into his body, piercing, severing and ripping apart until the light faded and everything drowned in darkness and peace.

Something was not like it should be, was the first thing he thought, when his consciousness returned into wakefulness. Hard stone under him and the worst soreness in his body, which he had ever experienced, were the next things he registered.

He was still in the cell, the pain still present. Which basically meant that he was still alive. Bloody hell!

"Hello Severus. Nice of you to honour us with your presence once more."

Severus was way too tired to open his eyes. What the hell was Malfoy still doing here? Couldn't the man at least have the decency to get lost while he was unconscious and preferably get hit by lightning whilst outside?

"Come on, old friend. I know that you are awake."

Snape made an effort and opened his eyes. He saw Malfoy a couple of metres in front if himself, sitting on a wooden chair and studying him with an evil smirk.

Despite the waves of agony cursing through his body, Severus struggled to get into a sitting position, propping his back against the wall like before. He still had his pride and would not cower on the ground before Lucius if there was no good enough reason, like maybe having the Cruciatus placed on him or being dead.

"You must lead a quite boring life, Lucius, if you get entertained by watching me being unconscious." Severus' throat still burned and it was not easy to make the words more than illegible croaks with the dryness in his throat.

With disgust he realized the dampness of his pants but he ignored it as well as possible, willing to ban the expression of disgust and shame that rose up in him. The Cruciatus curse did to muscles what it wanted and no one had managed so far to keep control over those muscles for longer than the third curse in a row. It was an automatic response of ones body, he told himself. Nothing over which he might have had the slightest control, or which Malfoy wouldn't be aware of. If he only reasoned it rationally – and often enough – he would convince himself that he didn't have to be ashamed for it.

He had had more and better occasions to do that anyway. Back then, in front of a horde of students. Lucius as a solitary spectator was not that bad. It was nothing which hadn't been to expect and was only a further game to humiliate and torture him.

"My, my Severus. Look, now you made a big no-no."

Snape forced himself to not shamefully turn away in response and only leaned his head back against the wall again, closing tired and pained his eyes. "Why don't you sue me, or better, just kill me."

This time, Lucius laughed out loud. "You would like that now, wouldn't you?"

Severus made a harrumphing noise and kept on ignoring Lucius.

"You have been close, my friend. Very close", Lucius continued unperturbed. "This time, I had almost kept the curse on you long enough to render you insane or even kill you. But then I, thank Merlin, soon enough understood what you had tried to do. It was only this that has saved your life."

"I am ecstatic", Severus answered in dry sarcasm.

"Do you remember our past, Severus? We were once friends, you and I, and I have always held you in high esteem. Even after the dark lord's fall, when rumours of you spying became louder, I believed in you. I always believed you too smart to backstab our lord. A true Slytherin. Cunning and proud, no matter what has been done to you. You hit back, rather than crawl into a hole and drown in self pity. For this, you had my full respect."

Severus finally opened his eyes ad looked up to the thoughtful looking wizard on the chair. "And what has changed that opinion? You didn't look very happy that I have been freed from Azkaban."

Malfoy sneered. "I was disgusted by what you had become. A crazy idiot who kills in front of hundreds of witnesses. You are a shame for our house. A Slytherin knows better than that. We resort to ruse and you have acted like an impulsive, brainless Gryffindor."

Severus chuckled softly. "No need to insult me, Lucius."

"No matter. When we got the letter and understood that you were working for the other side, part of my respect for you came back, since you seemed at least to be able to do damage control. I always doubted that your craziness was genuine, and in the meantime I'm convinced that it has been an act. At least the biggest part of it. Which meant that you fell back into the cunning Slytherin-ways to escape the kiss and to keep your chances on both sides. Smart, Severus. Incredibly stupid and dangerous, yet still very clever. I am proud of you. Alas, you will understand that we can't let you live."

Severus closed his eyes again. His body still hurt, especially his throat when he talked and he wanted to be left alone, knowing that he wouldn't get his way. "What is hindering you, Lucius? Two little words and you are rid of me forever."

Severus heard the groaning of the chair as Malfoy stood up and the rustling of his robes, as he approached. Severus opened his eyes again and looked up to his former friend, who was standing half a metre in front of him. "Submit, Severus. Tell me that the dark lord is your master. Use your Slytherin-ish smartness one more time and just say it. I promise that you will have a painless, fast death then."

Somehow, Snape found the compassionate words of Malfoy quite amusing. For his whole life he had been used, and never had he possessed or achieved something that others hadn't done better or possessed before him. Always in the background, always second choice. Never someone, never the winner. Never before had he been able to look into a mirror and be proud of his achievements. To have done something, which his father, Malfoy, Potter or Black were not better at. That's why he wouldn't give in this time. He would keep his honour for once. This time he would be winning.

"I think that you have been correct, Lucius. There must be some brainless Gryffindor-part in me."

Lucius' face morphed from friendly to hateful in a millisecond. "All right. You want it this way. But believe me; you will regret your decision."

T.B.C.