LIME ALERT!!!! SEXUAL CONTENT AHEAD!!!!

Also, just to clarify. Lady Eileen Snape is the "late Lady Snape," and Lady Victoria is the current Lady Snape.

Chapter 7: Absolute Depravity

Severus remained in solitude from the moment Hermione told him of Harry's deafness. The servants had been duly warned not to disturb the lord unless they had a dire need to do so. Consumed with guilt, he could not bare to see Harry. The ever closing walls around him only served as a reminder of how his world was changing all because of one boy. In the end, he could take no more. Without so much as a word to anyone, Severus began to pack his valise.

He found Hagrid in the stable and ordered that his carriage be readied for a small trip to the village. From there, he took a hired carriage to London. Thus Lord Severus Snape, a man known for his steely ire, ran away.

The streets of London were bathed in the eerie glow of the street lamps. As the carriage rolled on, rag clad beggars called out for alms, and prostitutes offered their services. It was hard to believe that this was the city that Victoria was so enthralled with. Severus couldn't see anything beautiful about a place so dirty and corrupt. There were few things that could drag Severus from his country home and into the city. One of those things happened to be living in an elegant flat on the wealthier side of town. Severus paid the driver and instructed him to return just before dawn.

When Severus let himself into the flat, a blond-haired man still in Elizabethan costume was waiting for him on the settee. "You don't give much warning, my lord," Gilderoy Lockhart said in a sultry voice.

The lord removed his cloak and gloves. He studied the actor before him. Lockhart was handsome in a pretty sort of way. His golden curls and toothsome smile made him the object of many a lady's secret desire—and many a gentleman's, as well. Severus had stumbled upon Lockhart when he was no more than a youth struggling to move from behind the stage to on it. Still reeling from Lupin's betrayal, Severus had no need or want for love. He simply wished to find an indulgence for his baser needs. The two had come to a mutually beneficial agreement. Lockhart would become his "mistress," and, in turn for sex and his discretion, Severus would grease enough palms to get the boy all that he desired. He was a mediocre actor at best and could never quite manage to feign the lust he proclaimed for Severus, but he would do. Or at least he did until Severus found himself wishing for a raven-haired innocent.

"Undress," Severus commanded without preamble.

Lockhart smiled seductively. "Are you not in the mood for foreplay?"

"How very perceptive!" Snape mocked. "Undress, and for the love of god, keep your silence."

This time, Lockhart simply did as he was told. He had become accustomed to the lord's harsh manner. There were things he no longer expected when the lord bedded him. For instance, in the two years that he had known Lord Snape, the pair had never once kissed. Lord Snape thought little of romance. A rough toss in the sheets was all that Lockhart was useful for, and there were no illusions between them.

Severus eyed Lockhart's muscular form with near apathy. He removed his own clothing and pushed the blonde on to the bed. When Lockhart made a move to turn onto his back, Severus held him firm. "Don't," he said flatly. He had no desire to look at Lockhart as he took him.

With a guttural moan, Severus slid into Lockhart's body. He closed his eyes and imagined a very different form lying on the bed before him. In his mind, he could see Harry's pale skin. His fingers ran down Harry's back as he moved gently into his rhythm. A cry tore through him, and he felt himself reach his release. Eyes still closed, a warm mouth descended upon his own, and, for a second, he found himself taken in. Then he opened his eyes. The spell was broken.

Severus pushed Lockhart back with such force that the actor was helpless to avoid it. "What do you think you're doing?"

Lockhart's face flushed an angry red. "Why would you fuck me as if you cared if you didn't want me to kiss you?" he shot back.

"Believe me; I don't care, Lockhart," Severus said in a glacial tone. "In fact, after tonight, you may consider our agreement dissolved. Don't worry about the flat. It is paid up till year's end, and I am sure you can find a new patron quickly."

"What makes you think that you are the only one in my bed?" Lockhart asked as he dared to meet Severus' gaze. Though he was obviously no match for the dark-haired nobleman, he was not about simply bare this without reason.

To Lockhart's dismay, the lord only began to laugh. His reply was quite simple. "Because you wouldn't dare disobey me."

The room became as silent as a crypt. Lockhart was intelligent enough to realize that it would not be wise to further bait Lord Snape, and Severus had said as much as he ever would on the matter. The affair was over, yet neither man could say that he would miss the other. Lord Snape dressed, and left to meet his coach.

Exhaustion was setting in as Severus handed the driver the address of his next stop. This time, the carriage turned down neat cobblestone streets and passed homes that only the wealthiest gentry could afford. Finally, the vehicle came to a gentle stop before an impressive townhouse.

With dawn's light barely in the sky, the servants were already awake and beginning the day as Severus entered his London home. The aged butler, Dobby, met him at the door. "My lord, we didn't know you would be arriving. We received no word," he said fretfully.

"Because I sent none," Severus replied wearily. He shoved his valise toward the little man. "Have one of the maids iron my clothes before I wake. I wish to see Lady Snape before I rest."

"My lord, I…I…Well, that is to say…" Dobby stammered as the color left his face.

Severus let out a dark laugh. "I do believe I will surprise my 'darling' wife right now."

As he ascended the stairs, Severus couldn't help but feel a surge of righteous anger. He asked very little of Victoria. It would be unfair—not to mention hypocritical—of him to ask for her fidelity, and he did not. Instead, he demanded only that she be discreet. What he saw when he opened the chamber door was certainly not discretion.

Victoria was sprawled nude across the bed with her delicate limbs still entwined with those of a nameless man. The room smelled of sex and turned Severus' stomach. Neither lover stirred as Severus crossed the room. His booted steps were mercifully quiet, but the morning light was not so kind as he threw open the drapes. Victoria let out a tiny moan and brought a hand to her face. Her eyes fluttered open.

"My god! Severus!" she cried as she struggled to free the sheet from beneath her bemused lover.

The young man in question sat up in shot. His face went deathly pale as he stared at Severus, and his mouth made a valiant-but-vain attempt to form words. Finally, he slid from the bed. "It's not what you think, my lord!" he lied in a trembling voice.

"It appears that you've bedded my wife. Do you mean to tell me that you were merely keeping her warm while she slept?" Severus sneered malevolently. "Put on your clothing, and never return to this house. If you so much as speak to her again, I shall have your heart roasting on a spit. Do you understand?"

Nodding hastily, the young man scrambled to get himself dressed and as far from the lord as humanly possible. It wasn't until they were alone that either Victoria or Severus spoke.

"You could have given me warning," she said coldly.

"We had an agreement," Severus stated blandly. "I have not once denied you anything that you could wish for. In return I expected to have a wife who avoided scandal, not brought it into my home."

Victoria laughed bitterly. "This is hardly your home, Severus. Just as I am hardly your wife. There has been no scandal. If you came out of concern for your name, I assure you it remains unsullied."

"You will not bring men into this house," Severus commanded. "What you do with whom is not my concern. What you do in my house is my concern."

"Yes, my lord," Victoria replied resentfully. "Is there anything else you require of me?"

Severus scowled at her. "Unfortunately, there is. Do you know anything of a family with the name Dursley?"

"You came all the way to London to ask me that?" Victoria asked incredulously. "Of course I have heard of the Dursleys—though I wish I could say that I didn't. Why do you ask?"

"I would rather not discuss it at present. I expect you to be clothed and punctual for tea this afternoon." With nothing more to say, Severus exited the room.

It did not take the lord long to fall asleep that day. He near collapsed into bed. For years, Severus had fought bouts of insomnia, yet he was simply too tired to remain awake a second longer. As his eyelids fluttered down, suddenly his thoughts were on Harry. Severus rarely dreamed, but when he did, things were crystal clear.

In his mind's eye, he could see Harry's naked form sprawled on the lawn. The smile on the boy's lips was not as innocent as before, and his eyes were ablaze with desire. Delicate fingers reached up and began to trail down Severus' nude chest, pausing at each nipple before ghosting downward. Shaking with desire, Severus thrust Harry's legs apart with his knee. He began to taste the boy gently. Tiny flicks of his tongue on Harry's sensitive collarbone sent a quake down his slender body. Never had Severus been so very aroused.

"Touch me," Severus commanded huskily. Dream Harry not only heard to what Severus said but obeyed as well. Talented hands wrapped around the thickness of Severus' hardening cock. Nearly satisfied, Severus dipped his head to whisper in Harry's ear, "Say that you want me."

Harry's lips quivered, and his smile faltered. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a strange noise escaped. As Severus faded from his dream, all he saw was pure hurt in Harry's beautiful green eyes.

Severus awoke in his bed with a stiff cock and a heavy mind.

Victoria was waiting for him when he made his way downstairs. If Severus fancied women at all, he didn't doubt that he would be more than happy with his wife. She was tall—though not imposingly so—and slender, yet still womanly. Honey gold wisps of hair escaped her simply coif and sparkling blue eyes gazed out at the world from a startlingly beautiful face. If only Severus did not know what a callous heart lay beneath her breast, he might feel at least a fondness for his wife. Between his own taste for men and his wife's viper-like nature, Severus could summon up nothing when he looked at her.

Ten years ago, Victoria had been dubbed the "Diamond of the season" by many gossips. It was her quite unfortunate turn with those very same gossips that ruined her so thoroughly that not even notorious rakehells would associate with her. With her reputation in tatters, Victoria became a pawn in the grand plan of Lady Eileen Snape. It mattered little to his mother that the two had never met, nor that Victoria's reputation was well earned. She orchestrated a wedding with great flair. The marriage had seen to it that the Snape family coffers were once again brimming and that Lady Victoria was now the height of respectability and fashion. In that respect alone, the marriage was a great success. Since the death of Lady Eileen two years prior, they saw little of each other. They were a contemptuous pair at best and mortal enemies at worst.

His "Diamond" faked a smile. "My lord, I took the liberty of having Cook prepare a slightly heartier fare since you have seen fit to sleep through both breakfast and luncheon," she said in a voice equally as false.

He nodded and followed her into the dinning room where a table was set with tea for Victoria and luncheon for Severus.

"Tell me what you know about the Dursleys."

Victoria took a dainty sip of her tea. "I don't know all that much really. My father had a business association with Mr. Dursley's brother-in-law, Sir James Potter. Sir James was in the shipping industry, you see. He'd made quite a name for himself in the King's Navy and earned the title. His wife, Lady Lily, was Mrs. Dursley's younger sister. She was quite a lovely woman, not at all like Mrs. Dursley," she noted thoughtfully. "It was quite tragic how they died. They were returning home from a holiday in Scotland when their carriage was attacked by highwaymen. Their driver barely survived. He claimed that Sir James died trying to protect Lady Lily."

Severus tapped his fingers on the table irritably. "So all that you truly know about them is that they are related to Sir James and his wife?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you are quite impatient?" Victoria asked with sarcasm dripping from her every word. "No. I do know more, but it all begins with the Potters and their son."

Now that caught Severus' attention. When Dursley had said that the boy was his nephew, he had only assumed that the boy was his blood relation. Feigning ignorance, Severus motioned for Victoria to continue. "I am sorry, my dear. You were saying?"

Victoria frowned, but she did continue. "When they died, they left behind a young son and an immense fortune. Mrs. Dursley was the only blood relative the boy had, but he did have a legal godfather, Sir James' best friend and business partner, Lord Sirius Black. Rumor had it that Lord Black actually paid the bandits to kill Sir James, though it was never proven. There was quite a stir over it. Why Mr. Dursley took Lord Black to the courts and even managed to have the boy put into his custody."

"And what happened to the boy?" Severus asked, biting back the rising bile in his stomach. He had an idea where this was going.

"The poor thing died of fever when he was only six, though I doubt the Dursleys were too saddened by the loss. Petunia Dursley was at a ball wearing purple silk not a full month after the child died," Victoria said with disgust. Sadly, her concern seemed to lie with Mrs. Dursley's fashion choice rather than her obvious lack of concern for her late nephew.

"Do you happen to recall the boy's name?"

Victoria was beginning to eye him suspiciously. "I believe it was Harry Potter. Severus, why the sudden concern for a child who died nearly twelve years ago?"

Twelve years ago! But that would make Harry eighteen! Severus thought. He tried to keep his rage contained, but the thought that Harry had been locked away for over a decade renewed his resolve to see Dursley's head on a pike. How could anyone be so cruel, so greedy as to keep a child locked away simply to claim an inheritance? Twelve years. Severus couldn't even imagine being held captive like that.

"My lord, you're bleeding!" Victoria cried.

Until she spoke, Severus hadn't even noticed that the handle of the delicate teacup had cracked in his grasp. Holding a cloth to the wound, Severus excused himself curtly. The bleeding stopped quickly, but that was not what pained Severus the most.

His mind kept drifting back to Harry. There were nearly as many new questions as there were new answers. The boy's life was even more depressing than it had seemed at first. One thing was certain: from here on out, Severus would be much more diligent about searching for the truth. He could think of one way to get to the bottom of this.

Severus penned a quick note and gave it to a footman. "I want you to deliver this to Mr. Jonathan Whit. Tell him that the matter is quite urgent and that he will be paid well for his time," he commanded.

"Yes, mi'lord," the footman said with a bow.

As Severus sit behind his desk, he began to wonder just how deep the secrets were rooted.