Chapter 10: The Means To Command
{A/N: Here's Another Update...some of you are quite clever...Hopefully this comes out right...still got that lingering cold and so forth...and the meds aren't working for the cough...late post}
My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy S.S.
Waring: Violence and sexual content ahead
Fortress Of Solitude,Unknown Location...
All eyes had immediately fallen upon the ebony cloaked figure known as Severus Snape the moment he made his presence known to the rest of his fellow death eaters. His sallow pale face had been devoid of any and all emotion as his obsidian gaze fell upon those foolish enough to question his capability to remain at the helm of the dark lord's empire. There had apparently been whispers among the ranks of the true Pureblood wizarding class that Snape had been incapable of sustaining the mantel of second in command and those that aired these whispers became brazenly vocal as of late in a bid to stage a coupe against The Headmaster of Hogwarts and current Minister of Magic. Their bitter envy of position and insult due to his lack of substantial wizard blood had been the major factors in the wake of their demand of his removal. The dark lord, having owned Severus Snape his very life and absolute trust thought the matter better settled in person and sent word to Snape at Hogwarts that these concerns amid the massive amount of Pureblood followers was at best disconcerting.
Snape for his part immediately apparated to the fortress to address his critics in person.
"Ah...S-S-Severus." hissed the despot as his red eyes glowed in approval of his second in command's presence. "How good of you to join us-s-s-s."
"Of course my lord." replied Snape. "You did summon me here after all."
The dark lord seemed more so amused than anything which was always a good sign as far as the Potions Master was concerned. To tell the truth, Snape had little reason to fear the despot these days as it was long discovered that he was immune to the killing curse and far more formidable in combat than many would believe given his former line of work.
He had been a force to be reckoned with in his own right and it truly surprised him that some if any remaining Pureblood supremacists would dare move against him given all that he had accomplished the wake of the war. He had also taken into account that some of their concerns were just given his massive amount of power and unsavory temperament. Having just massacred a handful of rebels on a whim and left the charred bodies in his wake without batting an eye, it caused a good deal of concern on the part of his enemies concerning the capabilities he had to even dispose of the dark lord himself.
Snape had after all, murdered Albus Dumbledore, took over Hogwarts and ousted Minerva McGonagall, whom had quietly disappeared from the public sight following her defeat at Hogwarts.
"Now then." said the despot looking over at the handful of Pureblood supremacists whom found Snape's status insulting to everything their involvement with Voldemort's entire movement stood for. "You were saying?"
"Snape's not fit to reign as your second." said one brave Pureblood death eater.
The Potions Master recognized him as Aldon Reeves, a posh sort of man with true Pureblood roots.
"Is that so?" asked Snape devoid of emotion as always.
"Indeed it is." said another Pureblood wizard by the name of Travis McTomins.
He had been an ambitious young bastard on as hard pressed to gain power as any of the others but more so willing to do the dirty work to acheive the power he so desired.
"I suppose you seek to challenge me then." said Snape in a cool tone.
The eyes of both McTomins and Reeves widened momentarily. One from cocnern and the other from overwhelming ambition.
"Yes." said McTomins as expected.
"No...not directly..." amended Reeves, whom did not appear as stupid as he looked.
Smirked taking in the sight of them.
Reeves was a odd sort of fellow prone to the old ways with a veneer mustache about his top lip and a sleek suspicious sort of build. He reminded the Potions Professor of the sort of man you'd find trying to get people to visit a muggle carnival, but much older and more severe looking in terms of appearance. Though he dressed in the finest old rags of Victorian tailoring his many galleons could buy.
McTomins was by contrast a handsome bloke or to a degree due to his youth. Big and ruff around the edges. To put it plainly he was an average thug with good dress and family backing to keep him from wondering the darkened cobblestone of Knockturn alley as a brutish thug.
Snape had not been worried in the least about either of them.
"I see." he said smoothly.
Voldemort had been amused by the display knowing all too well just how it would end but keeping quiet due to the lack of entertainment as of late with Snape being so busy seeing to his formidable empire.
The obsidian eyes of Snape shifted to the despot.
"I request permission to demonstrate my worth to those that doubt my loyalty to you, my lord." he said evenly.
"Permission granted." said Voldemort as his red eyes began to glow in anticipation of the upcoming festivities. "But as much as I loathe the species of those inferior creatures...I admit their barbaric practices have some merit now and then...it must be in the style of muggles."
"As you wish." replied Snape knowing all to well that those before him would do little good against him in physical combat.
Snape wordlessly unbuttoned his frock coat, a gesture that confused those in attendance as Snape had rarely been seen without it when not being punished by the dark lord. Next he removed his long sleeve white shirt and cast both garments to the ground. He stood shirtless displaying his very many battle scars amid exposed pale flesh including the new ones he acquired due to his "wife's" hospitality.
Needing no further invitation, McTomins decided to get on with it and rushed Snape believing his superior size and sudden gesture would catch The Potions Master unawares.
"Why don't you all come at me." said Snape clearly not phased by the sudden attack as he side stepped the young bloke rather easily. "The more the merrier."
Upon realizing they had little choice, the other concerned Pureblood wizards did just that and all attacked Snape at once. The sound of Voldemort's roaring laughter filled the throne room of this despicable place as Snape allowed the massive group of enraged Supremacists to try their luck in doing him harm. He had not even bothered to easily evade them this time as hard blows rained down upon him.
McTomins had given a good deal of the damage, busting Snape's notoriously large nose and doing a number on his jaw. The Potions Master didn't make a sound as the bone cracked from the might of the younger wizard's fist.
This gauntlet had not been the first Snape had to endure since returning to the dark lord's fold. Only the latest as he felt more hard shots to his ribs and stomach. Despite the pain Snape still did not utter a single sound. He seemed all to contented with the sensation of it and relished the hatred these former "brothers" extended to him.
Voldemort continued to watch as the amusement continued to spread across his serpent-like face.
"You're going to have to do better than that." taunted Snape despite being on the receiving end of a vicious beating.
Not being satisfied McTomins pulled his wand and started casting a series of painful hexes and curses. He had been effectively breaking the rules set by the dark lord but his mind only focused on ending Severus Snape's command once and for all.
Snape weathered the blows from the physical as well as the magical attacks which caused him a good deal of pain and discomfort. By the time the group had finished he had barely been able to lift his pinky finger. Believing they had been triumphant, the group of Pureblood wizards headed by McTomins, turned toward the dark lord whom seemed to be contemplating.
He had not expected them to get the better of Severus this quickly and a single node of doubt had found it's way to the forefront of the despot's mind before Snape sat up despite the agony he had endure. His lean muscles bulged and black veins could be seen protruding from his milky white skin. There had been a good deal of blood loss as the slick crimson substance escaped various cuts and gashes opened due to the near fatal spell work of McTomins. Reeves for his part knew no good could come of this strange occurrence with Snape.
He backed away not wishing to have any more to do with The Potions Master.
Unfortunately Snape, with his eyes aglow with unbridled rage simply grabbed the well meaning Pureblood wizard and snapped his neck in a quick motion that gave even the despot Voldemort pause as he watched from his throne.
Reeve fell dead to the ground in mere seconds.
The rest of the group had been quite content to draw their wands forgoing the rules in the wake of their partner's untimely demise.
"As you can see." said Snape as if he were merely giving instruction to a group of students back at Hogwarts. "I am more than capable of retaining my position in accordance with the wishes of the dark lord."
With more swift movements, he dispatched nearly half the group killing them all instantly and without remorse.
More curses and hexes had been sent his way and he took them all.
Before long he had killed nearly everyone except McTomins.
Instead of a quick and painless death, Snape beat the young bloke into submission with his bare hands then cursed him until he had been on the very brink of death and cruelly left him alive to tell the tale. Nearly every bone was broken in the young wizard's body. From the throne over looking the bloodied battle grounds, Voldemort clapped in amusement at the entertainment he had been given.
"Well done." he said proudly. "S-S-Severus-s-s."
Snape didn't bother redressing as he picked up his frock coat and shirt as if they had been mere rags and bowed toward the despot.
"Thank you." he said dutifully. "My lord."
Voldemort dismissed him with his expressed blessing to continued to bed his playthings, it seemed fitting a reward for the show he put on just now. Snape left almost immediately, the thought in the back of his mind that he had some how unnerved the despot with his latest display. Curses and physical damage did little to stop his ruthless assault. There was even the slight inkling that Voldemort had coveted his new found power, given his surprisingly weakened condition following the battle with Harry Potter. With a crack of thunder Snape left Voldemort to his pondering in the throne room amid the scattered remains of his former followers.
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Snape's Manor, Unknown Location...
The silence had been almost deafening, as Snape's unlucky bride lied in bed amid the darkness of her gilded cage. The helpless tears continued to stream down her aged cheeks as her green eyes took in the silhouettes of the rooms extravagant furnishings. After having dozed off for a moment or two, she felt the familiar shifting of weight as Severus Snape slipped into the covers, like a serpent in all sense of the word he eased himself between her thighs. She didn't bother to fight it this go round, as she had already been worn out from her earlier attempts. She had not been sure it was worth it any more given his lack of any damage concerning her attempts.
Snape pressed his pale lips to the flesh of her exposed belly, causing the witch to let out an involuntary moan. A ghost of a smile filed across his sallow pale face as he eased his way back up her body lazily peeling away her green silk robe and exposing one of her naturally plump breasts. His obsidian eyes flickered with something unregistered in the darkness of their bedchambers. His fascination with this aspect of her anatomy had not been new to her. He had often joked that he was something of a cross between a stray cat and a pup weened a bit too soon by his mother.
The humiliation from his childish suckling of her breast did little to endear him to her and his excitement from such a intimate act between a mother and a newborn for the sake of nurturing had been repulsive to her in all aspects.
"You were always like a mother to me." he said in a low tone that surprised even her. "I often wonder what might have become of me if I had escaped your delectable womb."
Before she could react, the sensation of him invading her womb via his engorged cock had been all she felt.
"I wonder if our child felt the same as he grew inside you." said Snape in an emotionless tone. "Tell me Minerva...what kind of mother do you think you could have made...had you not killed our boy?"
Minerva McGonagall did her best not to respond to the sadistic monster that had his fill of her body. This was not the first time he had violated her and she knew full well that it wouldn't be the last.
Snape let out a low groan as the sensations continued to build between them.
This thrusts had been slow and deliberate as he moved inside of the elder witch whom had taught him for so many years at Hogwarts. His lean pale chest exposed to the elements as the silk bed sheets began to slide off his sweat blasted frame.
"Two dead loves and it seems time has made you quite ripe for the picking." he hissed in pleasure as he continued to thrust into the older witch.
"I will kill you Severus." hissed Minerva as her rage continued to build in the wake of her helpless situation. "As Merlin as my witness I will see you dead."
Snape thrust harder into the older Transfiguration Professor.
"I welcome the challenge...Mrs. Snape." he replied continuing to brutally punish her with his body. "But not before I take what you hold so dear to your stony heart."
"You will not touch her Severus." said Minerva. "She is not for the likes of you."
Snape smirked a wicked little smirk as his rough antics brought an end to their frenzied coupling.
"As much as I enjoy fucking you Minerva...there is only one witch that strikes my fancy at the moment." he said amused by her threats. "As of right now, she is useful in another fashion and I simply cannot be bothered to break her before her work is complete...I do require her mind intact as it were."
In a rush of fury, Minerva managed to push the despicable Slytherin off her.
"Leave her alone Severus." she said knowing her words had fallen on deaf ears, but she had the gruff to say them none the less.
Snape pulled back from the older witch and sighed.
"If only the wizarding world and your precious Gryffindors could see you now." he taunted. "The Mighty Minerva McGonagall brought so low that her only existence is to ride the dreaded Slytherin Potions Master's enormous cock."
His pale lips pressed against her soft exposed breast as he once more licked her bare flesh.
"Such a stubborn fool...even now you plan a new way to kill me as I sleep." he said amused. "You make marriage truly worth while love."
"And you make my stomach take a turns for the worst." she replied bitterly. "And to think I once considered you like..."
"Like what Minerva...like a son...to the likes of you and that old fool Dumbledore?" hissed Snape losing all trace of amusement.
Before she could reply he suddenly got out of bed as if her very presence burned him.
"What happened to you Severus?" she asked in a sorrowful tone. "What made you into such a twisted monster that even the despot Voldemort appears human by comparison."
"Why don't you ask Albus." replied Snape bitterly as he threw the silk sheet onto the bed and scrambled to pull on his trousers. "YOU THINK I WANTED THIS!"
Minerva sat up unsure what to make of his strange behavior. She had never seen him like this despite all that he had done over the past few years, there was never even a glimpse of a conscience behind his obsidian gaze. Here in the darkness of their shared bedroom, he seemed to be struggling against something but she knew not how to reach him.
"I...never...wanted...to...hurt..." Snape started and suddenly stopped before he walked toward the door and swiftly took his leave without another word.
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Snape's Manor, Unknown Location...
Severus Snape raced down the winding staircase that lead from his master bedroom. He had not known why, but he was filled with excruciating pain. It had been a good thing he had been the only one awake in the vast manor as he made his way toward his private study and toward his vast collection of various expensive wines and other liquor. His pale fingers trembled as he vaguely recalled events that had ensured his life take the turn that it had. He had been quite honest when he said he was given no choice and that Albus Dumbledore was to blame for his many unsavory actions. The war between his slightly renewed conscience and his new found sinister nature collided as a past memory washed over him, catching him unawares.
[The Potions Classroom,Slytherin Dungeons, Hogwarts Castle, Wizarding World... Three Years Prior...
With the final class dismissed, Severus Snape had gotten some minor relief. His hands still trembled as he went about marking the parchments left behind by yet another textbook assignment. He had not the strength to do any full on lectures, given he was pulling double duty filling in for Remus Lupin, the current Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor, due to his "wolf issues". With the final parchment graded and the feeling of stiffness in his spine nagging at him, Snape stood up allowing the blood to flow back into his legs unhindered as his lower back muscles loosened despite their constant throbbing. The minor aches had been a welcome change from the knots in his stomach and inability to rest. The Potions Master took a breath getting a hold of his wondering thoughts.
It had been two weeks since he had gotten a decent lights sleep and more the same since he was able to keep down a decent meal. Poppy had forced him to drink a nausea potion and shoveled gruel down his throat for the past two days after trapping him in the infirmary on Dumbledore's order. It seemed the old bastard was worried he'd die of starvation before he could deliver the killing blow.
Feeling a wave of dizziness overtake him. Snape's cold, clammy, pale palms had hit the desk while he leaned against it swaying slightly in the wake of his lack of balance. The silence had been almost maddening as the Potions Professor tried to will himself composed. He doubted that he could ever actually perform this tremendous placed before him. Despite all that Albus had done in the way of manipulation for his "Greater Good", the old bastard was the closest thing to a "father-figure" as it gets for the dour wizard.
"I...I can't." he said in a broken tone as the tears streamed down his sallow pale cheeks. "Forgive me Albus...I can't do this."
Within seconds of his admission in the silence, the door to the potions classroom burst open and a serge of magical force sent the Potions Professor flying across the room and into a nearby wall, toppling desks and chairs alike.
His obsidian eyes widened when they met those of icy blue.
"A-Albus?" he said struggling to make sense of all that was happening.
"You disappoint me Severus." said the Headmaster.
Snape took a labored breath in the wake of the blindsided attack.
"In this life there is only one clear choice when it comes to the greater good." said Dumbledore.
He raised his wand, with Snape believing the older wizard had come to put an end to his miserable life after all this time. Given his Slytherin nature, Snape suspected his usefulness to his once thought of enemy had served it's purpose and so he closed his eyes at peace with it all finally coming to an end.
Dumbledore looked upon Severus with sorrow gracing his features for the first time since he arrived.
"I am sorry, Severus...but this must be done...even at such a cost as your own immortal soul." he said then let fly a dark spell that could have only come from an ancient tome. "Nigrum cor urente!"
The Potions Master's eyes widened in terror as the dark spell hit him square in the chest piercing the ebony frock coat and his sallow pale flesh at once. Snape let out a strangled scream as the pain, an impossibly unbearable agony ripped through him causing him to convulse and shake without end. His eyes never left the older wizard whom had been looking down upon him with a grim expression.
Dumbledore had been impressed that Severus had managed to endure the agony of the spell without being ripped to pieces, a lesser wizard would surely have succumbed almost immediately.
"When you awaken Severus, you know where to find me." said the Headmaster before he stormed out of the classroom leaving the Potions Professor unconscious on the classroom floor. }
Snape had finished off his firewhiskey and thrown the glass against the nearby wall. After a moment the pain subsided and the black tears that fell from his sallow pale cheeks ceased to be. The short time his mind wondered what it felt like to have a conscience had been over and his twisted smirk returned. His sights had been set on a certain bushy haired witch with loads of potential to amuse him greatly.
Yes, Hermione Granger was quite the interesting acquisition indeed.