Hello! This is not my best story ever done, however I have just been holding on to it without having time to change anything so I decided to go ahead and post it. Hopefully you are able to enjoy it despite its imperfections!
WARNINGS! This story will include mentions of abuse, rape, and violence. I will try and remember to put specific warnings on the chapters that mention rape, however I might forget, so take this as a warning for the whole story. This story also has some curse words in it.
Chapter 1
The night was pitch black, as the moon hid behind the heavy clouds that filled the sky. It seemed as if the weather knew the very news that Harry Potter had told Dumbledore just hours earlier. The war was beginning again, and that meant that once again Severus' life was on a very thin and dangerous line. He had been walking it since the moment he stepped into Hogwarts as a child. It had eased and slightly faded from his life at the end of the last war, but it had never gone away. Playing the role of double agent was not an easy job, and convincing an order full of paranoid individuals that he was on their side was even harder. Yet, he couldn't find it in himself to care about that as he made his way across the damp grass outside the Malfoy Manor. He knew what was awaiting him inside, and he couldn't move fast enough. He had been held up for what felt like forever, dealing with Harry and all that went down at the end of the Tournament. He had been waiting on the chance to leave, since the moment he had heard what Harry had told Dumbledore. The Dark Lord had risen once again, his father was alive. Which meant his mother would be here as well. He had thought he would never see them again, he had thought he was alone in this cruel world pretending to be something he was not for the rest of his life. But then Harry had come back through the portkey with a dead Cedric, and the words "he's back" on his lips, and for the first time since the end of the last war, Severus had allowed himself to hope. He was wet and cold from the weather and his trip to the manor, and his arm was burning from waiting to answer his fathers call, but he didn't care as he pounded his fist on the door of the manor. After a moment of waiting it opened quickly, Lucius Malfoy standing on the other side.
"Severus. He's been waiting for you."
"Where is he?" Severus asked, stepping past Lucius into the entrance of the manor.
"In my study." With the words of the house lord, Severus set off down the long halls of the house to where he knew the study to be. His heart was racing as he made his way through the house, fear that all of it was a lie continued to try and creep its way into his thoughts. When he made it to the door to the study, he didn't stop and knock like almost anyone else would have, he knew that for a different death eater they would pay for such an action. He also knew that it would make his father have to come up with a reason he didn't punish Severus for it but he couldn't find it in himself to care. His father was alive, and he needed to see it for himself. The door slammed open as if it had been hit by a giant, but Severus didn't enter. He had frozen in the doorway, because there before him, on the other side of the room, was his father, alive and breathing. Of course there was the rat Pettigrew in the room, apparently they had been in a meeting, but Severus didn't even acknowledge him. He just stood there, eyes locked on his father, his feet frozen in place.
"Pettigrew, leave us." Voldemort's voice was rough and strained as if he was in pain, but it was the same voice it had been before his death. It was the same voice that had taught Severus his first spell, that had told him to get up after he had fallen down, that had taught him to be a man. It was his father. Pettigrew left quickly, not even responding to the Dark Lord. The room was empty besides the Dark Lord and Severus.
"You can come in." Voldemort's voice broke the silence after another moment, realizing that his son wasn't going to.
"I…" Severus tried, but no other words came out as he stepped into the room, closer to his father.
"Yes?"
"I thought you were dead."
"I know." It was all that his father said. There were no words of comfort, no hug, that wasn't who his father was. While for some that would be the opposite of what they wanted, to Severus it brought more comfort than anything else, because it meant his father was back, telling him to pick himself up, yet again. He didn't get to respond to his father though before movement caught his eye. Voldemort yet again was the one to speak,
"Ahh, there you are. I was wondering when you would join us." As his father spoke, the snake that was known to the death eaters as Nagini transformed into a woman. She was wearing a dark green dress that seemed to float after her as if on water, her long blond hair fell straight to the midpoint on her back, her pale skin reflected the light of the fire as if it was glowing. Severus froze yet again as his eyes locked on the dark eyes of the women before him, she looked young, but Severus knew it was the power of her magic that kept her that way.
"Mother." he breathed.
"Hello, Sev." The woman replied, stepping towards him and pulling him into a tight hug. His mother was the exact opposite of his father, she was kind and calm, she never spoke a harsh word to him and she always was there to fight for him and pick him up. His father was a harsher man, he made Severus fight for himself, and he was harsh and sometimes cold, he was never against forcing Severus to experience pain to prove a point or teach a lesson. Yet, his parents loved each other more than anything else, and both of them, in their own way, had proven to him over and over that they loved him as well. It helped Severus' case, that the only thing his father feared was his mother.
"He is a grown man, Haven. You don't have to baby him." Voldemort stated, a raised eyebrow pointed at his family as they hugged.
"His father was dead yesterday and now he isn't, and once again he is forced to play a dangerous game of being the double agent and working under that corrupt and evil man. He deserves a hug, Tom." As his mother had spoken she had broken away from the hug to give her husband a pointed look, allowing Severus to straighten back up and be the man his father was mentioning he needed to be.
"It's Voldemort."
"What?" Haven asked, leaning towards her husband as he whispered the words.
"I don't go by Tom anymore, you know that." Voldemort said with more authority.
"Then act older than the boy who did." With her words Severus saw his father take a step back. Only one person could control the Dark Lord, and that was the Dark Queen. She was unknown to everyone who wasn't currently in the room, but that had never diminished her power. Haven Snape Riddle had faked her death at the beginning of the last war and gone into hiding at her husband's side. She was a snake animagus, and one of the most powerful witches in Europe. She had been a Ravenclaw during her time at Hogwarts, and had surpassed all the other students in both grades and skill. She had caught the eye of Tom when they were in their fourth year, and they had started a relationship early on. She also happened to be the one person who hated Albus Dumbledore more than Voldemort, but Severus had never been told exactly why.
"What is your plan?" Severus asked, breaking the humorous tension that filled the room.
"Win the war, with as little death as possible, and get Dumbledore out of power and away from children that he can manipulate and hurt." Voldemort answered his son, moving to the tray of firewhiskey and pouring three glasses, handing the first to Haven and then one to Severus before sitting in the chair by the fire. His mother perched herself on the arm of the chair, his fathers arm wrapped around her back. Severus knew that to others they would look powerful and menacing sitting in such a way, each of them sitting as if on a throne, but to Severus he saw his parents, and their love for one another.
"I'm assuming you want me to continue to collect information from them, feed false information to them, and keep you in the loop at all times."
"That would be what a spy typically does, but I am afraid I will have to ask more of you than that."
"Yes?"
"I want you to win Harry Potter over. He is no threat, but he is also completely innocent, as are the other children in that school. The school follows their hero, and if we can win Harry over we might just be able to get the school out from under his grasp." Voldemort explained.
"Pardon?" Severus asked, disbelief clear on his face.
"Come now, Sev. Surely you can be nice to the boy and win him over. He isn't his father, you know." Haven stated calmly.
"Neither am I, yet if I told anyone who my father just happens to be I would become an outcast at best or I would be killed for it at worst!"
"So, instead of being different from the corrupt world we are trying to get rid of, you want to be just like them? I highly doubt that would make anything better. You would be trading one side of the hate spiral for another and in a few generations another war would happen and it would all go back. We are trying to get rid of that, Severus, not just turn it the opposite way." Haven asked her son, her voice calm and kind, but her words cutting deep even so.
"No. I want the corruption and the hate to end for all the groups, but Harry Potter is an individual person, and wanting equality and equal opportunity for all the wizarding world is different than liking every individual in it." Severus snapped back.
"Harry Potter is our way in. He is their hero and as such he leads them. He also deserves to know the truth of who he is working for and how Dumbledore has used him all these years, beginning with his abusive family, and ending with his being forced to save Hogwarts as nothing more than a child." Voldemort added to his wife's reasoning.
"How exactly do you think I should explain a sudden change of character to the boy without it seeming like I am the one using him? I have ignored the boy for four years, speaking to him now would likely cause suspicion."
"Just be who you actually are to those who were not James, Sirius, and Remus. He is just as much Lily's child as he is James' you know. Besides, Severus, you are not an evil scary bat like most of those children think you are. Just be yourself, and stop judging him for his fathers actions." Haven answered. Her tall and thin figure could easily be described as royal as she held her chin high and showed her power in the way she carried herself.
"Severus, while you are my son, you are also my death eater and spy. This is your mission, it is for our greater cause, and you have never failed a mission yet, so I expect you to come back to me successful in this one as well." Voldemort added, his expectations for his son had always been high, and while he would give anything to keep his son close and protect him forever he knew that it would make a weak man, and in no way would it protect him in the long run.
"Yes, Father." Severus answered, bowing his head slightly in respect. Severus was willing to argue for as long as needed, but he knew when his father made a statement like the one that had just come from him it meant that the argument was over. Severus was the Prince, the heir, the servant, the son, Voldemort was the King, the Dark Lord, the leader, and the father, his word was the final say.
"You are expected to be at as many meetings as you can get away with, and I expect weekly reports on progress and information. As has been the case in the past, when in the presence of others, you are no more than a spy to me, as your mother is no more than a pet. Our family's power lies in the fact that Dumbledore thinks he is only fighting me, while his real threat sits in my shadow working behind the scenes, I plan to keep it that way."
"Of course, father. I will do what I must to further our cause. I do have one more question, though."
"Yes?"
"How much information am I allowed to bestow upon the young Mr. Potter to win him over to our side?"
"As much as is necessary. He deserves the truth, and only the full truth will break through the lies of that old man." Voldemort answered.
"You are not new to this, Severus. Use your discretion, but do not lie to the boy. He has had enough lies, it is time he knew the truth." Haven added. Severus nodded before standing to leave, his mother stood and hugged him once more, but his father didn't move. Once turning to the door to begin his walk back to the apparition point, he missed his mothers motioning behind his back causing his father to speak once more,
"Severus."
"Yes?" he turned back to face his father from the doorway. His father still sat in the chair by the fire, regal and controlled he looked every part the Dark Lord they claimed him to be, it reminded Severus of years earlier when he had first been sent to spy on Albus.
"I am proud of all you have accomplished since my departure, and I am sure you will exceed every expectation. Be careful, and do not allow your anger to blind your mind. I am here once again, if you need me." Voldemort stated, his son only nodded in response before leaving. The two of them had always had an understanding of one another. Both were harsh, hard to read, and calculating men. Neither of them found emotion easy, or words of encouragement their way of life, not like Haven so easily had mastered, but, both of them knew that when the other showed respect of pride it meant the words they had never actually said to one another. It meant I love you.
"You still are unwilling to say it, aren't you?" Haven asked her husband after their son left the room.
"I don't see a need. He knows."
"Does he? You have never told him so. Not even when he was young. He risks his life to earn your pride and respect, the least you could do is let him know the one thing I have known since the day he was born."
"What exactly would that be?"
"That you love him more than anything, and you would willingly give up everything you have been working for and every bit of power you have if it meant you could protect him." Haven answered, before hearing someone coming down the hall and returning to her snake form before a knock was heard at the study door.