Torture
Sev put on his uniform and went down to the Common Room, his fifth-year escort was already waiting for him and they went to class. I have Lauren. I'm going to wait for her to project to me, and if she's okay, I'll tell her what I've done over the weekend, but at my own pace, without losing concentration in class, except, of course, about Audrey. If I don't want her to tell me about Jack, I'm not going to tell her about Audrey either. She will find out in its time, if the time comes.
As I expected, Lauren has projected to me as soon as she can, and yes, she's fine, even if she doesn't tell me anything about it, it shows that she has been with Jack and it has suited her wonderfully.
"I want you to tell me everything little by little, but, first of all, play spy for me," she told him.
"Sure, Lauren, whatever you want. Do you want me to read?"
"No, it is not necessary. Just tell me if they talk about me at home."
Sev thought, She must have asked Jack by now, and maybe he has read about her, but it's only natural that she would ask me too, because I'm the one people would warn. "Nothing, Lauren. No one has said a single word to me about you, neither for better nor for worse. Only Anthony the morning of training by the Lake, and I already told him that you were harmless and that I was taking care of you. So you can rest easy on that aspect."
"So do you think I can go back to the Great Hall?"
"Yes, of course, no one mistrusts you, they will leave you alone. I think that everyone at home can smell that you are on our side and you have to hide it. Otherwise, someone would have tried to warn me against you, and no one has."
"Wow... what a relief, because it's just the attitude I need from them," she replied.
"We are Slys, Lauren, hard to fool. When you come out of your fishbowl they will welcome you with open arms."
They continued to chat on and off throughout school hours, and at lunchtime with Lily as well, for Lauren had discovered, the previous weekend she spent in the Room of Requirement, studying the Mental Arts books, that they could project to two people at the same time, and thus the three of them could talk as if they were together.
It was the first time they did it. Sev and Lily were very tactful with her, never reproaching her for the uneasiness she had caused them the week before, and they supported her, conveying the calm and self-confidence they now felt.
Sev was thinking, (Well, she's not alone anymore. She has Jack whenever she wants, me in all classes and lunches, and Lily in the Library, too. She's okay, I don't have to take the berry.)
At dinner Sev projected only to her, "Lauren, I would like to meet soon, if possible this week. Not today, because I want to sleep early, I've had three hours of Time Turner."
"Sure, Severus, whenever you want."
(She is the same as always, at my entire disposal. Lauren feels bad about the feeling so deep that she has for me, she doesn't know how to handle it, she suffers too much. She is better with Jack.) "Where do you want us to do it? In the Room of Requirement or do I cast a Fidelius?"
"Are we going to do something else apart from talking? Are you going to teach me something?"
"Yeah. I can teach you the talking Patronus and how to Bond as a Clanship," he answered.
"I prefer to wait to do it as a Couple."
Better, because I still haven't Bonded with Lily in either way. "Yes, I prefer it too. We can also study the Red Magic book together."
"Great. And continue with Legilimency, I want to teach you how to recognize Occlumency," Lauren said.
"Wonderful. So, Room or Fidelius?"
"If we do without the Patronus, we can stay at home."
(Ugh… then we should have potions and she's already going to abuse them with Jack. No, not at home, we can't use the Time-Turner there.) "No, Lauren, we're going to do it with Time Turner, we have to leave the house."
"Sure... If you conjure a Fidelius, will you have to go out for two nights?"
"Yes, because I will do it alone. We can't both be out in the open that long."
"Then leave it for later. We'll meet in the Room of Requirement," she decided.
"When do you want?"
"Whenever you want."
(Tomorrow, then. That way I have time-turning margin during the week.) "Tomorrow. What will we demand?" Sev asked.
"What we thought at first and did not get to try, the Space for Study and Training in Forgotten Sorcery. Let's see what comes up."
"Okay. We'll meet in the Common Room at home as usual. Now I have the Map and I can control Filch. Then we'll go there separately, through the passage from the third to the seventh floor."
"Perfect," Lauren agreed.
So that Monday Sev went to bed at ten to sleep for nine hours until seven, and on Tuesday, Since I have to stay up late and I know that Lauren is not going to meet Jack, I'll ask him again to accompany me to the Room of Requirement to the piano classroom.
(He has stayed with me, last night they should have been together too, they are going to burn themselves with the potions.
(I can get the whole song out with two hands, now I need to sing it at the same time. First I will practice it a lot so I don't have to be concentrated on the keyboard.)
Until eleven he did his homework for the day, and then he went to bed to continue studying. When Jack and Anthony went up he waited for his Lumos to go off and he turned off his as well. He Tracked them until they fell asleep and then he got ready.
He dressed in the clothes that Lauren gave him, took the backpack with the Red Magic book and the Time Turner and went down to the Common Room. Lauren was already waiting for him in their corner, Disillusioned. He sat down and she appeared, immediately casting the spell and the Muffliato again.
"Wow. These days I have come to think that we would never meet here again," Sev said.
"Yeah. Me too, and I was very sorry."
"Do you know that people still don't sit here?"
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. It's always free, both your place and mine, because during the day I usually sit in front of the window," he explained. "But now they sit next to me and chat with me if I invite them to."
"You're already Sly's Head."
"It seems so, and this is my office, within everyone's reach. And it's all thanks to you, gorgeous."
"You are incredible, Severus. With everything you have on you and you're better than ever. Now you have suddenly become a man."
"Yes, Lauren, I have fully matured."
"I came to think that you would not be up to the task, and the one who was not up to it was me."
"Don't say that, Lauren, we all have our ups and downs. You sank because you were left alone, I have had a lot of support, otherwise I would have done it too. The day after the mess, when the first news appeared in the Prophet, I received a hundred hugs, from all the people who came to train."
"Oh…"
"A lot of gasoline, Lauren."
"Sure. Shall we get going?"
"How many hours do you want to spend?"
"How long will it take you to teach me about the Patronus?" she asked.
"Nothing. Twenty minutes."
"Then two or three hours will be enough."
"Better three. I feel like talking face to face," he said.
"Of course."
"As I left there at a quarter to ten, we have to wait here for a while. We don't know what might happen if we use the Time-Turner inside the Room of Requirement while it was being used for another function."
"Sure…"
"Complicated. I'll ask the old man, to see if he knows," Sev continued.
"Sure, do it."
"Let's take the opportunity to talk about a topic that presses me."
"Tell me," Lauren asked him.
"I saw that you received a letter this morning. From your parents?"
"Yeah."
She doesn't want to talk about it, but I do. "Tell me the news."
Lauren took a deep breath. Bad news, he thought.
"I'll start at the beginning," she said.
"Of course."
"Malfoy understood the whole maneuver as soon as the injured owl arrived."
"Great, as I expected," Sev said.
Lauren breathed again. "And that gave him time to prepare for what happened the next day. Give me your hand."
Ugh… Sev gave it to her and Lauren squeezed it.
"I don't know if you know that Voldemort summons the Marked by making to burn their Marks," she continued.
"No, I did not know."
Lauren breathed again. "As soon as Bellatrix read the news on Sunday morning she went to Voldemort besides herself, to make Malfoy answer for such a blunder, because he had trusted you."
Sev began to tremble and they went on speaking out loud. "Boof… I'm waiting for what's coming."
"Don't worry. You are safe."
"So what happened?"
"He summoned a meeting of the inner circle and tried to read Malfoy, finding nothing compromising," she answered.
"Oof… thank goodness."
"Of course, my parents had enough time to instruct him in deception, inventing false memories about you to replace what he was occluding."
"Oh…"
Lauren squeezed his hand tighter. Whoops…
"But Bellatrix didn't settle for that, and she and Voldemort tortured him," Lauren continued.
"No!"
Lauren shook her head. "He asked for it, Severus," vehemently. "He did know what he was getting into. He thought that by having a high position he would never be lowered to that. Don't worry, he resisted and they didn't discover him."
"Lucius…"
"He managed to fool them. They have not degraded him."
"I'm already defeated," said Sev.
"Well, don't be, because it's good news. He is in charge of reprisals against you, he has made him pay for his mistakes."
"But if he doesn't manage to do anything against me, he will torture him again or send someone else, even Bellatrix."
"No, Bellatrix won't, Malfoy read her, she's scorned." She finished with a satisfied smirk.
How can she feel satisfied with something like that. Lauren has a psychopath edge, Sev thought. "Did he read her while they tortured him?" very upset.
"Yes," she kept smiling.
"Booah… I don't feel like doing anything else, I want to go to bed."
Lauren turned serious again. "Come on, Severus, you won't be able to sleep. Let's be done with this, forget about it and do nice things."
"What else is there?"
"The first measure they have taken is to find out your address. But in that respect you are doubly covered, by Dumbledore and by Malfoy."
"And if they find out about St. Mungo's?" he asked.
"Malfoy will Obliviate them," totally calm.
"And if they put someone else in his place to control the spies?"
"They don't have anyone else with his influence in the Ministry, they can't do without him," she explained. "The storm cloud will pass, soon they will stop caring about you, it was an outburst of Bellatrix's. Voldemort doesn't give you any importance, for him you're insignificant, a sixteen-year-old boy," making a dismissive gesture. "The usual, he's very confident, he looks down on you. Besides, he thinks that at any moment you could change sides again."
Then he will propose that I join when I leave Hogwarts, Sev thought. "How do you know all that?" altered.
"Because Malfoy read him too," laughing.
Lauren is a psycho. "Also?" very upset.
Lauren turned serious again and took a deep breath. "I already told you that now Malfoy wants to destroy him. He will do everything in his power and knows that you are an essential part of it. He knows you well, he doesn't look down on you, quite the opposite. He will protect you at all costs and do everything he can to stay safe so that he can continue to do so. When things calm down, he'll make them forget about you. He will play the matter down, and in the meantime, he will keep us informed of everything through my parents."
"Have they told him that we are up to date?"
"They haven't."
"Then he doesn't know that I know he's protecting me," Sev deduced.
"Not for sure, but he imagines so, because of how he sent you the letter, tied to the owl."
"I want to write to thank him."
"No, Severus, don't. It's dangerous for both of you."
"Ugh... they tortured him for me."
"No, Severus," denying vehemently. "They tortured him for being a Death Eater, just as they would have done to you if you followed the path he marked out for you. He has taken what was his own."
He thought, She is absolutely right. If I had followed in his footsteps, I would now be subject to Bellatrix. Sev took a deep breath and calmed down. "And Narcissa?"
"Resisting what they throw at her. Her sister has tortured her husband and she has to pretend."
"Booah… how awful."
"Luckily she has another sister, Andromeda, blood traitor, married to a Muggle-born," Laured informed.
"Oh, I didn't know that."
"Of course, because she is a shame for the family, like Black. She is the middle daughter. They are also going to teach her Occlumency and they will be able to reveal their secret to her, they will have more support. Shall I tell you something nice about them?"
"Sure."
"They already conjure Patronus, both of them," she continued.
"Oh... a little consolation."
"No, it is very important, they have redeemed themselves. According to my parents, Malfoy is unknown. Nothing to do with how they saw him at Easter, collapsed and coward, he has given it incredible courage. Being able to read while being sewn up with Crucios is a colossal feat, which is why I was satisfied, not because I was amused. He too has become a man in a month."
Another one that has become Gryff, it looks like a plague, Sev thought. "Ugh... and all because of me."
"Well yes, Severus, you are destined to change lives for the better. Let's drop the subject, I shouldn't have told you anything. I wanted to reassure you, not make you feel guilty, you were not to blame for anything."
"Yeah, I know, Lauren, but I can't help but suffer if someone is in a bind like that for me."
"I understand, and forgive me for laughing. For me it means a great triumph against Voldemort, and also for Lucius. He was very proud to have been able to do something like that, he has found his purpose in life. He is already an essential part of the great team that we are."
"Of course he's essential. He's going to free me from the chase."
"We hope so."
Sev sighed. "Alright. How have your parents taken the news?"
"They are delighted, very hopeful."
"You haven't told them anything about the Horcruxes, have you?"
"Of course not. And I'm not going to do it while I can help it," Lauren replied.
"Sure, you did well. If something happens to me, you're in charge of the ring."
"Of course, Severus, but nothing is going to happen to you."
"Albus must already smell that someone else knows where it is. He has not mentioned the subject to me since Tuesday, nor has he made me make a will."
"Of course, he must think that Jack knows it too. It would be through him that I would get in touch with Dumbledore, without mentioning, of course, what the ring is."
"Well thought, Lauren, but there is a better option."
"Tell me."
"That you destroy it yourself."
"Of course," she agreed.
"Albus knows how to control Fiendfire. I have never even tried to conjure it, but in the Fidelius I have a book in which it appears. In the next session we could dedicate ourselves to learning."
"Of course."
"This way we will have the security that it will be destroyed without the old man touching it if something happens to me," Sev continued. "We must also protect him at all costs."
"Of course."
"I'll go for the book the night I'm going to conjure the Fidelius."
"Brilliant."
"I have written a new list of demands for Albus. Shall we see it?" he asked.
"Sure."
Sev took it from his robe pocket.
DEMANDS
-Let Slughorn hold out as Potions teacher until Lily is old enough to replace him.
"Wonderful, Severus. You would both live at Hogwarts and near him while you trained."
"Of course. I must protect her at all costs."
-That the seventh-year students who graduate this year and want to continue training, can continue coming to school, and they'll be also instructed in Occlumency, Ancestral Magic and Dark Magic.
"Wonderful, Severus. Because we don't even know how long we have until the war breaks out, it may be a matter of months. They must be the first to be instructed. Something else occurs to me in line with this."
"Tell me."
"That the already trained Aurors can also do it."
"Of course!" Sev exclaimed.
"But it will be a lot of work, especially for you."
"I know, Lauren, but I don't care, I want to save lives at all costs. And I just came up with a way to get in touch with the Aurors."
"Tell me," she asked.
"Jack's uncle."
"Of course, a very good idea. He can be trusted, it was he who encouraged them to learn Mental Arts. He will know how to judge who should be communicated to and who should not."
Sev was thinking, How well we work planning together. When we Bond it will be fantastic, two minds thinking as one. He also wrote down the Aurors' thing. "We will need to expand the Training Hall."
"Of course, but there will be no problem, the old man will do it. And also the necessary dependencies to instruct in Mental Arts and Bonding."
"Yes, we were already talking about that. He planned to do it in the summer."
"He will do everything in summer, of course, with more time," Lauren said.
Sev also made a note of expanding the Training Hall, indicated by an asterisk at the bottom of the list.
"Shall we continue?"
"Let's continue."
-That students be allowed to sit mixed in the Great Hall and in classes.
"Wonderful," she said.
"Now, in training, close relationships are beginning to be forged between people from different Houses, and we must encourage them."
"Of course."
-That the elves be freed and allowed to choose to work or not to do so, and those who decide to do so, receive a salary.
"Ugh… that's going to be impossible, the elves want to be slaves. My parents already tried it with ours," Lauren said.
"But maybe there is someone who does want to. We have to give them the opportunity."
"Sure. Then propose to him. For trying, let it not be."
-Change the menus for better quality and healthier food.
"Very good idea, but difficult. They will have to teach the elves to cook it," she confirmed.
"Yeah."
"Propose it anyway, you will think of a way."
"Do elves cook at St. Mungo's too?" Sev asked.
"I don't know."
"There the menus are adapted to each patient."
"Sure, like in Muggle hospitals," Lauren said.
"I'll check with Professor Belby in the summer."
"Good idea."
-Install electricity in the castle.
"Whoaah… Severus. Now that would be a revolution."
"Yeah, but very difficult and expensive."
"Yes, but perhaps over the years it will be achieved. You have to start fighting it now. At least give Dumbledore the idea."
"In case I don't survive," he said.
"Come on, Severus, you're going to do it. You are destined to do a lot of good, you would be an irreplaceable loss."
"Many good ones die young precisely because they are."
"Yeah."
-That we be allowed to bathe in the Lake.
"Wow… that would be great," Lauren exclaimed.
"I don't know how to swim, and this summer I'm going with Lily on holidays to the beach."
"Sure... I could teach you, but they can't see us together."
"Oh, what a shame. What if we demand the Lake in the Room of Requirement?" Sev suggested.
"Of course… if the Forest appears, the Lake will also appear. And now dawn is very early, we could take advantage of those daylight hours. I will ask my parents to send me a bathing suit."
"Brilliant." Booah... we're going to have a great time.
"You'll learn quickly. In a couple of days you get it," she encouraged him.
"Really?"
"Yeah. And then you could do it whenever you wanted by yourself."
Sev thought, Wow… it would be great to do it every day at dawn, from seven to seven thirty, for example, in the Lake of the Room or in the Lake itself. Do physical exercise every day, not just in training. "How many plans, Lauren, life is not going to be enough for everything. The other day I thought I'd make a Horcrux out of the first Death Eater I killed."
"Well, it's not a bad idea, it would be worth it if you were immortal."
"Isn't it?"
"I would do it too to be with you forever," Lauren said.
If I proposed this to Lily, she would be screaming. How Lauren and I are alike.
"Well, we can start thinking about getting started" he said.
Sev took out the Map and unfolded it.
"Wow!" she exclaimed.
"The Marauder's Map. This is nothing, now nobody can be seen, they are all sleeping. You should see it with people."
"The Marauder's Map?"
"That's what the Gryffs who attacked me call themselves. 'The Marauders'," he explained.
"Yeah, for exploring the castle."
"Surely. And they protected it with very ingenious spells." He told her. "You have to help me think of some sentence that is up to the task to protect it. I can't be less than them."
"You never would be, Severus, you're worth fifty like them. But I'll think about it, of course."
They watched it.
"The five malefics are in their beds," Sev noticed.
"You and I did not appear."
"Because we are Disillusioned."
"Where are you going to conjure the Fidelius?" Lauren asked.
Sev pointed it out to her. "On the fifth floor, here. There is a passageway from the second. Do you see it?" He also pointed it out.
"I do. I already visualize it."
"It is safer than going to the Room of Requirement. When we don't need a special space to practice something, we can meet there."
"Sure."
"I'll ask Remus to make another Map for you," he said. "Let him take advantage of the sketch of the one that was left half done."
"And he won't suspect?"
"I'll tell him it's for Jack."
"And when he talks to him?" she worried.
"That Jack tells him that he has it, Jack is in on your secret."
"Sure."
Though maybe she'd rather keep Jack out of the way, because he can figure out that she needs it to go out at night with me, Sev thought. Well, let him make some sacrifice too. I've left him the bedroom space, the potions, and all of Lauren's for him.
"Filch is very easy to locate at night. He's the only one that moves," he pointed.
"Yes, I see him. He's in the second floor."
"And moving away from the stairs. Leave now, take the Map and wait for me in front of the Room of Requirement."
"No. You keep it."
"No, Lauren. It would be more serious if he caught you than me, they are not going to punish me. And if he catches you, the old man might have an excuse to appoint you. Come on, go away."
Lauren folded the Map so that she still saw the second floor where Filch was patrolling and she walked away.