A Different Kind of Magic--UNDERGOING EDIT

This chapter is a tough one. Warning you all now for torture and violence. Teddy is not, and will not, ever be subjected to torture firsthand. There is one scene in a future chapter that I reference an event that happened to him, but I will not describe it in any detail. I am not into writing that sort of thing about kids. Anything mentioned is to further the plot. That said, he does witness what happens in this chapter so keep that in mind.


Chapter 32- A Reason to Live

“Come on, maggot. Defend yourself! Crucio!”

Severus writhed in agony under the Unforgiveable. He refused to cry out for the scum that laughed so freely at his pain. It was no more than what the Dark Lord had ever subjected him to, and this lot was infinitely less imaginative than what Voldemort had ever come up with. He would do anything to keep the attention on him and off the boy.

“This is getting old, Yaxley. You’re not going to break him. My father has seen him go through much worse than a few Unforgivables. He’ll die before he cries out. Father will be furious if you kill him before he gets to him. You may as well wait until Father has time to deal with him.”

Yaxley turned to Draco and gave him an ugly sneer. “You know what your problem is, Malfoy? You’ve always been the rich, snot-nosed brat with no balls and less brains. It’s a wonder your bitch of a mother didn’t kill you at birth. You’re pathetic! If you think your fucking Pureblood father can do a better job than me, just let him try! I’m tired of being treated like dirt!”

“My father will hear about this, Yaxley!”

“That’s right Draco, run to Daddy when someone insults you.”

“I don’t have to take this from you.” Draco stormed from the room.

Yaxley turned back to Severus, who was trying to get up. “Who said you could move? Crucio!”

It was excruciating. Every nerve was on fire. Each muscle writhed in agony. This had already gone on for a good hour. It wouldn’t be long before he lost consciousness.

“Yaxley!” barked a commanding voice. The tall, lean, platinum-blond wizard coolly moved to tower over his follower. The smirking son followed closely behind his father, arching his eyebrows in contempt at the other man.

“Draco tells me you are trying to kill my guest. Is this true?” A single brow arched as Lucius tilted his head, waiting for the reply.

“No, My Lord, I was just softening him up a bit for you.”

“It would displease me very much if I thought you were perhaps, insulting my son, by disobeying my direct orders to do as he bade you.”

“I’m sorry, My Lord. I just got a bit carried away, that’s all.” Yaxley stared down at his feet, wand lowered and gaze fixed on the filthy floor.

“I will not punish you only because you have brought me something valuable. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind!”

Yaxley scrambled from the room like his boots were on fire.

“Draco, leave us.”

“But Father-“

“Leave us!” he shouted. “Must I repeat everything?”

“No, sir,” mumbled his son.

Then they were alone. Severus, Lucius and the frightened Teddy huddled in a corner.

Lucius Malfoy looked down his nose at the prone form in black. The travelling cloak had melted to Severus’ back. A sort of caustic, charred smell, like meat, hung in the air. Teddy was covered in bits of straw, dirt, blood and ashes.

“At long last, old friend, we meet again. I see you have taken up the company of children, just like old times. How…. quaint.” Lucius curled his lips and wrinkled his nose, and began pacing in a broad circle around the dingy room.

“I will admit, Severus, that I was quite surprised when Draco told me you were here. Yaxley will have you to thank for not meeting an earlier demise than he otherwise may have. He’s been quite useless to me, really. So hard to find good help these days, wouldn’t you say?”

Severus grunted in response.

“What was that? Oh, never mind. I doubt you care what I have to say anyway. I wonder, if it would be prudent to dispose
of you now, or play with you a bit. We were all very disappointed, of course, when you survived the Great War. Such a shame Harry Potter ratted you out to the Dark Lord, announcing you had always been loyal to that oaf Dumbledore! I always knew you were a traitor!” he spat, the spit landing in the other man’s hair.

“Still, you do have some special talents. I could certainly utilize them to my advantage. You see, I have a proposal for you. If you would be willing to brew some very special potions for me, I would be willing to allow you to live for the time being. I can be merciful, you know.”

“Go. To. Hell, Lucius,” came the strangled reply from the floor.

“Suit yourself, Severus,” Lucius shrugged. “Yet I wonder how long Remus Lupin’s boy will last under the labor of a house elf. I have been without since Harry Potter tricked me into freeing my servant Dobby. It is always nice to have a replacement to kick around, even if it is only for a few days.”

“No!” Snape gasped through the trembling convulsions in his limbs. He got onto his hands and knees, than roughly scrambled to his feet. “The boy has done nothing. Do not harm him.”

“How charming; a soft touch after all, is it? What is he worth to you?”

“I will do as you ask, just, do not harm the boy.”

Lucius tapped a long, manicured finger to his lips in mock contemplation. “I am feeling generous today. I will grant your request, but… here are my stipulations. You will only receive one set of rations. The boy only eats if you give him your food. You will do the chores I set before you in addition to the potions I wish for you to brew. If they are not done to my satisfaction I will not punish you, I will punish the boy. If you try to escape or harm anyone, I will kill him while you watch. Have I made myself clear, Severus?”

Burning coal orbs met ice blue ones. “Crystal.”

“Quite right. I see you were brought here without a wand. Could it be you were not trusted by your pathetic friends?” he sneered. Severus grunted heavily as Lucius roughly shoved him in the chest with the end of his silver-tipped cane. “You might also be of some use with your ability at Legilimency. It pays to know what those around you are thinking.”

Shite! Severus hadn’t anticipated Malfoy wanting to exploit some of his finer talents. If he told Lucius of his weakness, than he could be killed on the spot. On the other hand, it could prove advantageous if Malfoy let his guard down, knowing he was helpless to an extent…..

“Lucius, I hate to disappoint, but my convalescence seems to have rendered my magical ability inert. I will be of no use to you in that capacity.”

“Rubbish! Do not try to weasel your way out of it, bootlicker. I have my means of forcing you to comply.”

“Of that I have no doubt. A simple spell will tell you the truth of the matter.”

Lucius narrowed his eyes and did a quick probe with his wand. “So you are capable of telling the truth. Color me shocked. What, pray tell, is your advantage in your being so forthcoming?”

The Professor held out his hands in mock supplication. “I have nothing to lose. You would have found out and killed me anyway if I had lied to you.”

“Yes, true. That would not have pleased me in the slightest. Still, you have your uses.”

Lucius mused for a moment in self reflection. “Yes, you will do quite nicely. Such sweet revenge it is to finally have you under my thumb, old friend,” he mocked.

Malfoy took the pair at wand-point to a sub-level of whatever facility they were in. A cellar gave way to a hole in the ground that was dug out of the bedrock of the earth. It rated ten square feet in diameter with no source of light or exit except the one from which they came. Two raggedy, flea-ridden blankets were their only protection from the bone-chilling cold.

“I do hope you’re not afraid of the dark. I’m afraid you and the brat will be spending quite a bit of time down there. Au revoir!” With that, the ladder was pulled up and the trap door slammed shut and locked.

Teddy piped up. “I’m scared. It’s dark in here. I want my Papa.”

“There is no need to state the obvious, you obtuse child. Do not complain. It will not rectify the situation.”

“Are you injured, boy?”

“Nah I’m okay. What’s your name, Mister? You was always locked in your room at the house.”

Severus hesitated. “My name, boy, is Severus Snape. I am the former Potions Professor from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“My Daddy works there.”

“Yes I know that!” he snapped.

“My Daddy says you can turn into a bat.”

“Your Daddy needs to be taught some manners.”

They were quiet for awhile for which Snape was grateful. He was mildly relieved the brat wasn’t crying and whinging. The little whelp seemed to have taken their abduction in stride. Probably has his mother’s disposition. It sure didn’t come from that fucker Lupin.

He groaned when the child piped up. “Don’t you want to know my name, Mister?”

“I already know your name.”

“What is it then?”

“Your name is Teddy. Now be silent.”

“Can you turn into a bat and fly out of here and get my Daddy?”

“No, you stupid child. Now be silent!”

“Are we going to die?”

Severus didn’t know how to answer that. So he gritted his teeth and lied. “No, Teddy. I will figure out a way to get us out of here.” His heart didn’t believe it, but he wasn’t going to tell the child that.

“Can I cuddle with you? I’m cold.”

“If I allow you to sit under my cloak, will you be silent?”

“Yes, sir.”

It was an odd pair that spent that first night of many in the freezing cold hole in the ground. The great hulking Potions master and the small, extraordinary boy that curled up under his travelling cloak barely put out enough body heat to stave off the chill.

Severus fell asleep sitting up through a haze of pain and the drying stink of burnt flesh. He dreamed that night of seeing the boy out his bedroom window. Severus left the safety of the Burrow, following him into the trees. Shadows loomed large as the lad’s slippered feet crunched twigs under his light step. The sleepwalking Teddy wandered into a wide expanse of copses and brush. Severus caught up to the boy and shook him awake. “What are you doing out here?”
The boy dropped a toy that had been in his hand, and before the lad could reply, the Professor caught sight of someone running toward them out of the corner of his eye. He instinctively turned and covered the boy with his own body as the Confringo spell scorched the skin from his back, melting the fabric into the flesh.

Yaxley sneered at him through his grimy, ugly face. “My Lord will be quite pleased with you pair,” came the evil laugh and disorientation of Port Key. Severus jerked in his sleep, reacting to the Cruciatus curse in his dream. Yaxley laughed maniacally and cursed him again and again, reveling in the boy’s terror, but frustrated by Snape’s lack of verbal response.

The Professor’s shaking woke the small boy. Tiny fingers reached up and around to probe the edge of the burn on the man’s back. A curious thing happened then. Teddy placed his palm flat on the back of Severus Snape. A luminous blue glow emitted from the boy’s palm and spread in arcing tendrils over every inch of the burn. The hissing of charcoaled flesh being reversed to its natural state echoed dully throughout the tiny enclosure.

Finished restoring the flesh, Teddy slumped from the exertion it took from him and passed out.

Severus woke with a start. Something had startled him, but it was impossible to define in the pitch black. He noticed something was missing. Pain. He felt no pain. His muscles no longer twitched and ached from the Cruciatus. One of his hands reached around to gingerly probe where the burns had been on his back. The burnt hair had grown back. All he felt was smooth, unblemished skin. It wasn’t possible. Eliminating what was obvious from what remained left only left one conclusion. Someone or something had healed him.

He felt for the boy and discovered by touch, the small form inches from his own. Severus ran his hands over the boy’s small body and clasped his hands in his own. They were warm and made his palms tingle from the contact. Magic; only strong magic could make another's hands feel that way through contact with skin alone. he didn't know why or how, but this small child had the power to heal him. Maybe there was hope for them both, after all.

Severus pulled the child in closer to his body and curled up around him on the unforgiving stone floor, cradling the boy’s head over one arm. He would not let Lucius harm him if it took the last fighting breath from his body. He silently vowed to get the boy out alive and home to his father. Along with the thought of returning to Hermione, Severus had finally found a reason to live again.