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Broken by the Dark Lord	By : Kanashii Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 6067 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
�� Miranda skidded
down the steps and was shocked to see a small rather rickety dining room table
laden with various types of breakfast food. It held some of the most
interesting food she had every seen and never had! Pumpkin juice, thick slabs
of bacon, eggs, kippers, not the usual fare she was used to eating in Sicily
for breakfast.

� Professor Snape must
have already eaten because there was only a place set for one. As she nodded
good morning to her teacher he cocked one eyebrow at her and seem to glare
almost piercingly through her soul. �Did you not see the wizarding robes
upstairs?� he asked coldly.

� �Si Professore Snape,� Miranda said
slowly in Sicilian. �I saw some kind of unusual clothing, the green and black
robes?�

� With a slight sigh
Snape pointed his wand at her throat and muttered �Polyglot Ingles�

�You need to start speaking English.� He spoke at her, �No
more Italian. Now, those robes are from the school I teach at, while you are
learning you wear them.� His dark eyes looked at her. �Capisce?� he half spat the Sicilian word for �understand?� at her.

� She nodded slowly
and walked back upstairs to go change into the robes he had provided. Already
her stomach was churning with anxiousness. She had only been here one night and
she already seemed to be grating on Professor Snape�s nerves, at least that was
the impression she was getting, however she was still uncertain about him.
Didn�t really know where she stood with him. He often spoke almost insultingly
and cold at her, but yet there always seemed to be something contained and
deeply hidden about him. Was he trustable? He had shown her that dark mark of
his own which meant like her he was bound somehow to Voldemort also. She knew
that Snape like Voldemort and Malfoy seemed to detest weakness, and she fought
to slam down the rising sadness and sense of despair that threatened to
overwhelm her.

�� Still her mind
gripped her with worry and depression as she thought of her mother and father
back home in Italy, as she remembered Voldemort�s cruel words that he had been
the one who ordered Furio killed and now, this; being tutored by some glowering
Professor who seemed to be on the constant verge of barely suppressed anger.
With almost meditation like calmness she forced herself to lock away that
sorrow and fear. She would not face Snape with sorrow, she could not bear to
have him berate her or worse do something cruel to her like Malfoy or Voldemort
had done to her. She would simply and complacently follow Snape�s teachings and
learn as fast and as best she could, and more importantly she would think hard
and plan her escape from these Death Eaters.

�� Severus paced
briefly again as he took down some of the more basic books on Spell craft for
First years. He would have to take her during the holiday break to Ollivanders
and at least get her a wand of her own. For now she would practice with his
mother�s old one. He briefly picked up the wand and twirled it nimbly in his
fingers and then cast a spell to make sure it was still functioning properly.
With a rather dark glance at the wand he thought it coincidental that it was a 9�
mahogany wand with a unicorn hair center.

�� His heart slammed into his chest again with
conflicted feelings. He had read her down at the breakfast table, her fear her
confusion and despair. He would have to teach her occulmency when he had time,
otherwise the death eaters would seize on her fear and uncertainty and tear her
apart. He knew she wanted escape, and he truly did feel for her utter confusion
and uncertainty. He remembered his own early days at Hogwarts, the taunting the
teasing, and worse he remembered that fear in his mother�s eyes whenever his
father was in a towering temper. Snape truly wondered what plans Voldemort had
for her, but his Master had not chosen to share those plans with him or her. He
had sensed nothing in her mind that seemed to know or remember any
conversations of what Voldemort was choosing to do with her, except to bring
her up to speed in magical training so she could learn the dark arts from him.

�� Snape could hear the secret door open and he
turned and saw her standing in the doorway dressed in the black and green
Slytherin robes, head slightly drooped, and her shoulders sagged. He could tell
she was forcing her mind to slam down any fear or weakness and this impressed
him. She would need that strength and if she could hone her mind to fight any
fear or weakness or emotions than she could learn occlumency. It was only her
body language that gave her away.

�� He dare not say anything positive or
encouraging about her honing her mental strength, he had to be careful what he
did around her lest Voldemort pick up Snape�s actions. Instead he rewarded her with
a slightly softened tone and a compliment on her appearance. �Much better
Miranda.� He nodded slightly. �The black and green robes are the house robes of
Slytherin, the house I am the head of at Hogwarts.� He said quietly and
motioned her over to him.� �Until we can
get you a proper wand, until Voldemort gives us permission to get you one�� he
handed over his mother�s old wand to her. �You can use this one. Many students
occasionally use second hand wands, you will never get as good results as you
would as one you are fitted for brand new, but for now this will do.� He
motioned with his head for her to go ahead and eat breakfast as he continued to
talk to her. �I have both magical instruction books as well as books to help
you learn the English language. You are appear quite bright, so I think you
will pick up these things quickly.�

�� He sincerely meant
the compliment, but it was very hard for Severus Snape to say anything
genuinely for what it was for. His father had despised weakness, and Severus knew
that to show weakness at school only made things worse. He sighed deeply a
moment and strode over to the bookshelf gathering more items. �When you are
done eating, get over here in the living room and we will begin the lessons for
today. We are fortunate that it is a weekend and so I have 2 days to get you
into a self studying routine until I have more time off over the holidays.�

�� Miranda hurriedly
finished up her breakfast and then grabbing her wand dashed into the living
room to begin her first lesson with her tutor. He was concise, demanding and
even a bit condescending at times. He demanded total attention and
participation, and he could be very sharp tongued on any mistakes, but she
sensed that he was a very accomplished wizard indeed. Whatever his personality,
she truly craved his knowledge as it might hold the only key to her eventual
escape from under the hideous thumb of Lord Voldemort.

�� By day 2 she had already learned to cast the
most basic of charms, making a pencil briefly levitate. She had jumped up and
hollered in joy, much to Snape�s utter chagrin and she had only earned a
reproachful �Everyone gets lucky once in awhile, Miranda. Never get over
confidant, it is peoples undoing.�

�� She half wilted
under his sharp reproach, had it been her Uncle Furio who had taught her the
two would have been laughing and dancing for the next half hour, at her finally
grasping a concept. And to make matters worse, Snape kept jeering and nagging
her about learning English. It seemed her lack of speaking, writing and
understanding English bothered him more than her lack of magical training.
Anytime she slipped and said any word in Sicilian or Italian, he would round on
her with such an icy look it nearly froze the blood in her veins.

�� I do NOT want to
hear any more Italian, Sicilian or Italian dialects in my home!!!� his voice
was low, cold and as icy as a garrote around her neck. And after that he even
stopped using his little �polyglot�
translation trick making their communication that much more harder. He did
allow her to write her homework for now in Italian as she knew no other way to
do it, but he often glanced at it distastefully.

�� He taught her the most basic of useful
spells, and then had her dusting and cleaning his place for him. Her once proud
stature drooped even more.

�� Well you ARE here to learn magic are you
not?� he sneered, �what better way to do so than to practice constantly. Since
I am rarely here at home, the place has gotten in a bit of a disused state.
So�� he looked at her down the end of his long nose, �Now you have a way to
practice your dusting and cleaning charms, don�t you.� One side of his thin
lips curled into a slight cold sneer.

�� The man still had
her taking various potions in the morning and at bedtime, but she did not
complain, they were making her body feel more healthy, and even more
importantly (and she was sure it was his potions) seemed to make her mind be
able to tolerate this whole crazy thing of being cooped up here with Professor
Snape on Lord Voldemort�s orders. And while Snape was usually a dour, man who
slunk around his own home like a man on a mission, who�s tongue could be as
sharp as those evil spurs Malfoy had used on her, she noticed he did
occasionally sense� very quiet
compliments from him. Nothing was over the top or effusive about him. A quirked
eyebrow or a slight tilt of the head or even a long silence could often be considered
high praise from her dour teacher.

�� Finally on Monday
morning as they ate breakfast in relative silence together, he shoved a couple
of dusty and worn tomes at her. She glanced at the titles, they were written in
Italian. �Fiorelli�s
Guide to Mundane Magical Chores� and �Basic Lessons for Beginners- by the KwikSpell Italia Division-
Abracchio School of Wizardry.��
Her hand trembled as she opened one of the tomes and began to glance
through it, reading and seeing many of the basic and mundane spells being used,
all of it in her home tongue.

�Abracchio isa closed, yes? No?� she spoke broken English in
a thick sultry Italian accent. Her eyes looking into Snape�s with such
gratitude over the gift.

� ��With a harsh grunt he pulled his gaze from
hers and mumbled, �Yes, Abracchio is now closed. But I got these books for you
to begin to practice while I am not here during the day.� He gave her a quick
sharp look, �But I want you to be studying English for at least 4 hours a day
as well. I WILL be testing you at night.� He leaned over the table nearly
pinning her in place with his gaze and presence.

�� She just nodded.
What else was there to say?� However she
was truly beginning to think that Professor Snape was not her personal enemy
here. Back in her muggle school in Italy she had once had a very strict nun who
was much like Snape in that she was always quick to hand out criticism and
harsh instruction, and very rarely praised the students. Most of her fellow
students hated Sister Carmella, but yet there was a side to Sister Carmella
that was very protective of her students and who seemed to truly want to
prepare them for what was �out there�.�

�� Miranda truly felt
that Snape was cut of the same cloth. He was harsh, could be rude and sarcastic
as hell, but yet she still remembered when he had put that healing cream on her
and the measure of privacy and dignity he had given her. Never had he used the
Crucio or Imperius on her, never had he struck her or made any mention of what
the death eaters had done to her, and on the very few times he had seemed a bit
harsh (like that first night when he had grabbed her face forcing her to look into
his eyes) there seemed a deep remorse and hidden sorrow in him. She knew he
would never apologize for anything, but he would then try to go out of his way
to find one thing he could be honestly genuine in his praise with. Yes the
strange potions master was a very deep enigma indeed, and she didn�t know quite
how he fit in with all these death eaters, he seemed so very different from the
others, but yet Voldemort seemed to treat Snape with a higher degree of trust
than the others. All she could do was to learn from this man who seemed to be
almost as powerful a wizard as her own dark Master.
- 9
- 10
- 11
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Broken by the Dark Lord