A/N
I'm going to be changing the story rating to M from this point forth. This means that there may be graphic content (sexual and otherwise), coarse language, drug use, any of the above. I will not be putting warnings on chapters unless it's content that may be unbearably triggering, in which case I will provide a summary of that chapter in the following chapter if you wish to skip any triggering content.

I will also be looking to rewrite some of my earlier chapters (seriously, they're really poorly written) in the foreseeable future. When this occurs, I'll post an update, so if you wish to re-read earlier chapters with minimal cringe then you will be able to do so.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters, I'm getting to the point in the story that I've been aching to get to since I started writing this fanfiction.

I'd also like to apologise about Adrian. Unfortunately, he was a means to an end; I hope that nobody was too attached to his character. Frankly, Hannah needed to become a better character, and she needed a little help getting there. Thanks Adrian, your services will not be forgotten.

"Were you seen?" Voldemort turned his attention to Suzanna.
"There was a boy", Suzanna replied cautiously, "but I took care of him and apparated with his body." Hannah figured she didn't mention Dani out of fear of punishment. A sense of relief washed over Hannah, knowing Dani might evade Voldemort's attention for now.
"A boy?" Voldemort said curiously.
"A pure blood, my Lord." Hannah was intent on making Suzanna receive punishment.
"Most unfortunate," Voldemort whispered darkly, "No matter, I'm sure he'll make an excellent inferius." Hannah felt her heart sink for a brief moment before steeling herself again.
"Hannah, you should go back to Hogwarts now so as not to raise suspicion." Voldemort commanded, "I'm sure the teachers will assume the boy apparated too far during the lesson."
"The apparition restriction will have been reapplied by now," Hannah reasoned, "I will need to find my way back through other means, my Lord."
"Indeed." Voldemort motioned for Hannah to present her arm, "I shall summon Severus and have him return with you." Hannah bared her arm to Voldemort, who pressed his skeletal hand against the Dark Mark. A searing pain surged through her veins, serving as a chilling reminder of her allegiance to the Dark Lord.

"You summoned, my Lord?" Snape entered the cellar shortly after his summoning and bowed in front of Voldemort. Hannah thought he must've run to Hogsmeade to get here this fast. She noticed him distinctly avoiding eye contact with her.
"Yes, Severus." Voldemort circled Snape and Hannah as he spoke, "Hannah, our new recruit, needs to be transported back to Hogwarts. I trust you can do this?" Snape looked at Hannah for the first time since entering, his expression unreadable.
"Of course, my Lord." Snape bowed his head obediently to Voldemort.
"I trust you two have met?" Voldemort stopped in front of the pair of them.
"Yes, Hannah is a most talented potioneer, and a Slytherin, of course," Snape spoke nonchalantly.
"Good." Voldemort's gaze lingered on Hannah as if assessing her worth, "I'm sure that will come in most useful. You are dismissed." Snape held his arm out to Hannah for her to grab before they both apparated out of the room.

Snape and Hannah landed in Hogsmeade. As Hannah stood in the middle of the cobblestone road, she felt her heart start to hammer and her knees start to buckle. So much had just happened, and all she wanted to do was talk to Adrian about it. Adrian, who she'd never see again. Adrian, who died because of her. She felt Snape push against her back to guide her towards the Hogwarts grounds. Her legs walked her towards the castle, but she didn't feel attached to them. This was all just a really bad dream. She'd get back to the castle, and Adrian would be waiting for her in Snape's quarters. She and Adrian will sneak into the room of requirement and mess around as if nothing mattered in the world. Tonight, her and Adrian will lay in her bed with Spero curled between them.

Hannah and Snape continued to walk in sombre silence; they walked past the castle gates, into the castle, descended to the dungeons, and arrived at Snape's office. Snape locked the office door behind them and sealed it with an imperturbable charm. Hannah wasn't ready for the silence to be broken yet. For as long as it was quiet, Adrian might still be alive. For as long as it's not mentioned, Adrian's death could have just been a figment of her imagination.
"Hannah..." Snape whispered cautiously.
"No." Hannah crumbled into a desk seat and buried her head in her arms. The world around her felt so distant. She sat on a chair but she felt like she was hovering; her arms rested on a desk but they didn't feel attached. She knew Snape stood next to her, but he could have been coat rack. Her arm throbbed and burned at the place of the Dark Mark, but she didn't care. Nothing mattered right now. The world didn't exist. Nothing had a purpose. Snape pulled up a chair next to her and sat in silence.

Several hours had passed, and Hannah was drawn from her trance by the quiet scrape of chair legs.
"I need to leave for a moment; I'll return soon. Will you be okay?" Snape asked gently as he laid a hand on Hannah's shoulder. She merely nodded in response. She placed her head back on the desk, seeking refuge in numbing emptiness.

Another unknown period of time had passed. A gentle click in the background suggested Snape had returned. Hannah kept her head down. The scraping of a cauldron, the bubbling of liquid, the sloshing of ingredients, the bottling of solution. It was all happening, but none of it mattered. A soft clink of glass on the table brought Hannah's attention to Snape. He had placed a couple of potion bottles on the end of the desk. His long fingers rested cautiously on the table's edge as he watched Hannah.
"His body has been moved. He no longer has it." Snape's voice was so gentle, but it didn't make the words sting any less. She wasn't ready to think about this. She felt her body start to shake as she fought with the realisation that Adrian was truly gone. She would never speak to Adrian again. She would never sit with him in class. She would never feel his gentle touch or feel at home in his arms. She would never hear his laugh or see his smile. Hannah felt her insides bubble with the most horrific feeling of torment, anger, and despair. She felt her body tremble with pain as her breathing overlapped in a distressed panic. Her fingernails curled into her palm as her agony threatened to destroy her from the inside. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to kill everything and everyone right at that moment. She barely registered Snape's hand in front of her, bearing a potion. She took it in her trembling hands and swallowed the small amount that managed to land in her mouth. Her breathing began to slow down. Her shoulders became relaxed. She felt her anger and despair wash away as she started to sober. "Better?" Snape whispered. Hannah managed a weary nod and sighed as she placed the remainder of the calming draught onto the table.
"Suzanna killed him." She whispered into her reflection of the potion bottle. "He's gone because of me."
"No." Snape sat down at the table with Hannah, "He's gone because of Suzanna."
Hannah's voice quivered, "If I had just not taken those lessons..."
"Nothing you could have done would change the inevitable." Snape looked at Hannah empathetically, "Adrian would have been exploited as your weakness in much more horrific ways if Suzanna was given the chance." If Hannah hadn't had that calming draught, she knows her insides would have lurched at that comment.
"I should never have put Adrian in that position. I should have parted ways the moment I knew she had escaped from Azkaban."
"These conjectures will get you nowhere. You can't change the past." Hannah rubbed her palms over her face.
"You don't get it." Snape sat in silence for a moment as if contemplating what to say.
'Yes, I do." He shifted uncomfortably, "Fourteen years ago, the Dark Lord took the only woman I ever loved, driven by a prophecy that I myself revealed." Hannah watched Snape curiously. The word 'love' sounded so foreign coming out of his mouth.
"Did she know? That you loved her?" Snape's eyes became unfocused as his mind drifted to the past.
"No." Snape sat for a few seconds before picking up the potion bottle and placing it on the shelf, seemingly looking for any escape from the conversation. Hannah took this as a cue to drop the subject.
"How did you retrieve his body?" Her voice cracked as she forced the words out.
"I created a small portkey to my house and placed it upon him before entering the cellar." He sat back down at the table, "The portkey had a three-hour countdown to give the Dark Lord time to see the body." Although it hurt to think about, she was at least glad that he wouldn't become an inferius.
"What are we going to tell people? About... what happened to Adrian?" Hannah couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.
"The Order will be told the truth. I suspect Dumbledore will want to keep it quiet otherwise."
"What? Why? He's been intent on telling people that the Dark Lord is back all year." Hannah couldn't imagine trying to ignore Adrian's absence, especially when Dumbledore was so quick to tell the school that Cedric was murdered by Voldemort last year.
"That's different. This is a death eater apparating onto school grounds during an apparition lesson. He would get sacked in a heartbeat. He will want to wait until the Dark Lord is out of hiding to tell the truth."
"Can I at least tell Dani?"
"She should know that she's in danger, yes. But she cannot know about your recruitment." Hannah rubbed her hands over her face as she went over everything in her mind. She had to ignore the fact that Adrian was absent, she would have to tell Dani that her mother is a death eater who murdered Adrian, but she wouldn't be able to tell Dani why her mum apparated into Hogwarts in the first place. Hannah looked at the Dark Mark that peered out of her sleeve. She would need to make sure nobody saw that. She suddenly became aware of just how much the Dark Mark burnt in her arm. Without conscious thought, Hannah cradled her arm in an instinctual attempt to alleviate the ache. "Unfortunately, no remedy I have encountered will cure that particular pain," Snape said as if reading Hannah's mind. He reached for the other bottle at the table's edge, "You will, however, be needing this tonight." Hannah took the dreamless sleep potion in her hands, knowing she would rely on it for the foreseeable future. "You should sleep. We'll have a lot to go through tomorrow."

A/N
Thank you again for reading this fanfiction, I will be keeping A/Ns to a minimum from now on, but any and all reviews are highly appreciated. Whether it be to correct spelling or grammatical errors, or to express your dislike (or appreciation) for where the story is heading, I'd love to hear your feedback.

I'm currently in the peak of my uni degree, so chapters will be slow, but I do have a few pre-written that I'll be dropping every week or so.

Thanks!