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Much Ado About Nothing	By : goblet Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 2534 -:- 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.

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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
by The Goblet

Chapter 32

Severus walked the short distance from the edge of Wilkes' apparition barriers to the Potions Master's home. While he was in residence at the house, Severus was welcome to come and go as he pleased, however, as he was no longer an apprentice to the Potions Master and had been specifically invited to dinner on this occasion, he did not think it prudent to take liberties, and as such knocked on the front door, rapping twice.

The door swung open, and Severus was surprised to find himself greeted by the Potions Master himself, and not one of the Wilkes Manor house-elves.

Nero Wilkes was a large, wiry Irish man. His thinning red hair was cut in a short, neat style, as was his closely clipped beard and moustache. Everything about the man exuded supremacy, success and power. Wilkes was well known in wizarding circles for not only his birthright, but also his expert potion brewing skills. He was also known to the Order for his remarkable interest (and skills) in the Dark Arts, and his views on Wizarding supremacy.

The Potions Master ushered Severus in, relieving him of his cloak and a bottle of red wine which he had brought along with him.

"I hope that is acceptable," Severus told his teacher. "I wasn't sure if you were serving fish or meat tonight."

Wilkes examined the bottle, and smiled. "Of course it is acceptable. A good bottle of wine is always acceptable."

After hanging Severus' cloak in a cupboard in the lobby, Wilkes led Severus into the library, where a man was sitting, reading from a large tome.

Wilkes paused briefly to bow as he entered the room. "May I introduce Severus Snape?" he announced to the stranger.

The man glanced up and looked up at Severus. He was a man with no distinctive characteristics with which to describe him. He looked to be middle-aged, around sixty, but could easily be older, or younger. He was neither tall nor short, but of average height. He was neither thin nor overweight, but of average weight. He had a head of dark brown, wavy hair which was greying at the temples. His other facial features were unremarkable: his eyes: brown; his nose: average; his lips… well he had lips. He had no moles, no warts and no scars. All in all a man you would have trouble describing to an Auror.

Severus remembered the man as one of Wilkes' special guests. He had often visited the Manor, sometimes staying for dinner, sometimes holing himself up in the library with Wilkes, sometimes staying for days on end, and sometimes not staying very long at all, appearing only to collect a potion, before vanishing again.

Neither he, nor Lily, had ever been introduced to the man. Not that Lily particularly wanted to be introduced to the stranger. They had both been ordered not to bother any of Wilkes' guests, but Lily was adamant that this man, in particular, was pure evil and had taken to hiding from him whenever he came to visit. Severus on the other hand, had had numerous conversations with the stranger over the months, ranging from the weather, to the latest Quidditch round, to several enlightening discussions on the Ministry of Magic (a complete bunch of monkeys), Muggles (they were very good at entertaining monkeys), and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (a person who used Muggles to distract monkeys while he built a zoo).

During their discussions, the stranger had always played the devil's advocate, sometimes siding with 'The Dark' opinion (e.g. the Minister of Magic would look better with a magically enhanced red backside), and sometimes siding with 'The Light' opinion (e.g. Muggles were harmless creatures). Severus had always felt that he was being tested, so he had stuck strictly to what, he hoped, was the Dark Lord's perspective on things during their conversations.

Funnily enough, throughout the months he had spoken with the stranger, he was never introduced to him, and never learnt his name. He and Lily had taken to calling him 'the Robert Vaughn look alike' as he had reminded Lily of an older version of a Muggle actor she had seen on television.

Wilkes nudged Severus out of his thoughts. "Severus, you of course recognise the Dark Lord?"

Severus quietly sat watching one of the house-elves take away the remains of the chocolate marble cheesecake that had been served as dessert. Remus' actions that morning, and the shock that he had not only met but conversed with the Dark Lord for months, had left him with very little appetite. He had only managed to eat a small amount of his dinner, and two bites of his cheesecake, a dessert he loved.

"Nervous, Severus?" the Dark Lord asked.

Severus looked back at You-Know-Who from where he was staring off into space. "Um, er, yes, sir…," he stuttered as he automatically began to mentally reinforce his Occlumency.

Voldemort chuckled. "Nero tells me that you are quite proficient in your work; coming from Nero that is high praise."

The young man coloured. "Thank you, sir, I enjoy brewing potions."

"He also tells me that you have done much research on truth serums."

Severus nodded, thankful that the Dark Lord had not, yet, turned the conversation towards Wizard-Muggle relations.

Like a true Potions Master, Severus took the opportunity to speak about something that he had been devoted to for the past two years. "I found that with the current truth serums available at the present time, the serum influences only the words spoken, that is, it ensures that they will be truthful words. I found this a considerable flaw, with many persons opting to respond to interrogation through actions rather than through words to circumvent the influence of the serum.

"I have been developing a stronger and, I dare say, better serum which incorporates the Imperious Curse into the brewing process. It forces the persons under its control to not only answer questions put to them, but also answer truthfully through any means of communication they may wish to employ."

The Dark Lord smiled. "You are very passionate about your work," he said. "May I see this new potion?" he asked.

Severus looked over to Wilkes for instruction, to find the Potions Master pulling out a vial of clear blue liquid and handing it to his Lord.

Voldemort uncapped the vial and cautiously smelt the contents. "Odourless," he stated. "Tasteless?"

"Yes sir." Severus smiled briefly as his creation was inspected.

"It is also colourless, but I felt that it may have been misconstrued as water if it remained so. The blue dye evaporates when it comes into contact with oxygen."

"Does it have a name?"

"I have called it Veritaserum," Severus answered.

"I have written several papers on its development. They have been published in Potion Journals throughout the British Isles. It is by no means a clandestine endeavour, sir. It was the focus of my Masters research," Severus explained, clarifying to the Dark Lord that the potion was known to the Ministry, and could not be used as a 'secret weapon'.

"I would like to see a demonstration," the Dark Lord announced.

Lord Voldemort had, of course, already seen several working demonstrations of the serum. He had first read about it in one of the Potion Journals which had published several of Severus' papers. He had also been very angry that Nero had not thought it necessary to keep him abreast of the research his apprentice had conducted. As part of his punishment, Wilkes obtained several vials of the potion, with which he and the Dark Lord had performed countless 'experiments'. The truth serum did everything Snape claimed it could do.

He passed the vial to Severus, and smiled wickedly. "I'm sure a young gentleman like yourself has nothing to hide." Voldemort chucked as Severus blushed. "I promise I won't ask you how you lost your virginity," he added. The Dark Lord had heard of the Slytherin boy's engagement to his peer.

Severus swallowed hard and placed three drops of the liquid under his tongue. He closed his eyes for the short moment that the potion took to begin working. Even though he had been closely guarding his secrets and his allegiance all evening, he knew he couldn't hide from his Veritaserum. He had made it to be unstoppable: the most powerful truth serum known to wizards. In a few short moments, the Dark Lord would know that he was a spy, and would kill him.

He thought back to Remus, the man he loved. The man he lost through no fault of his own. Remus would never take him back. He had said so at the ceremony. Severus had nothing left to lose.

Severus composed himself, and took a deep breath, before finally opening his eyes. He looked up at the Dark Lord, ready to be found out as a turncoat.

"What's your name?" Voldemort asked.

"Severus Xaviour Snape," Severus responded.

Voldemort smiled. "What was your favourite class at school?"

"Advanced Potions."

Severus swallowed. The choker around his neck had tightened, and had grown warm. The sensation was not entirely unpleasant, but it was uncomfortable in the situation he was currently in. He did not need to be reminded of Remus' engagement present while he was being interrogated by the Dark Lord! He didn't care if it was helping guard against the Legilimency or Dark Potions; if he kept thinking about it, the Dark Lord was bound to notice.

Dark Potions! It helped against Dark Potions! Severus decided to try to find out if the choker had neutralised the truth serum he had swallowed.

"Who was your favourite professor at school?"

Severus panicked for a moment. He couldn't possibly tell the Dark Lord that Minerva McGonagall had been his favourite professor! He crossed his fingers and tried to lie.

"Professor Flitwick," Severus responded. He was able to lie!

"We were able to transfigure him into a tomato a total of 173 times in our fifth year. We never once got a detention," he clarified.

Voldemort suppressed a small grin. "What do you think of Miss Evans?" he asked.

"She's a know-it-all, goody-two shoes, mud-blood," Severus responded, with just the right amount of disgust in his voice. "She should have never been allowed to study at Hogwarts."

The Dark Lord sat back in his chair. "I heard, from one of my sources, that you were engaged to be married today: engaged to a half-blooded Gryffindor. My source claims that he saved you from this marriage, by fooling the half-blood into thinking that your affections lay elsewhere."

Voldemort sat forward, and leaned towards Severus. "Why were you marrying a half-blooded Gryffindor?" he asked.

Severus didn't even need to think before he reverted to his cover story, albeit the one he had prepared if ever asked about his relationship with Lily. As he began to speak, he began to lead the Dark Lord through a carefully rehearsed journey through his mind.

"I was bored, screwing a Gryffindor was good entertainment, and I was having a little fun. It began with sex: he was a convenient receptacle, and rather talented pitching as well.

"Then I realised that he was rather close to the Headmaster, the unofficial 'leader' of the resistance. This, in turn, proved to be advantageous, not only for my own concerns, but also some matters which were related rather closely to Master Wilkes," Severus paused to allow the Dark Lord to comprehend implications of his situation.

As a rule, Voldemort did not approve of his followers marrying unsuitable people. Severus had not only tried to marry a wizard who was not a pure-blood, but also a member of the same sex. This was not in the Dark Lord's grand scheme. He wanted his followers to marry pure-blooded members of the opposite sex, and create many more new pure-blooded children. He didn't care so much if they had someone else on the side, as Rodolphus did, as long as they provided him with more pure-bloods.

Severus, however, was a special case. Not only was he a very competent potion brewer, he had also secured the trust of an individual close to Albus Dumbledore. Voldemort didn't care that the person was male, or a half-blood, or even a Flobberworm for that matter. If Snape played his cards right, he could be the closest mole they had to Dumbledore.

Voldemort nodded, indicating that he accepted and even commended Severus' efforts. "Nero has told me of your… information being rather advantageous to him. You were prepared to marry a half-blood to get closer to Dumbledore?"

Severus nodded, thanking every deity he knew that the Dark Lord was buying his story.

"Where do your loyalties lie?" Voldemort asked, probing Severus' brain. He had the boy under the most powerful truth serum that he had ever witnessed and was raping his mind using Legilimency.

Severus bowed his head, as a sign of respect for the Dark Lord, but also effectively breaking eye contact and mind contact with him. "With you, my Lord. Your vision for the future of the Wizarding kind is ideal. It is exactly how Salazar Slytherin himself would have envisaged the world in which we live."

Voldemort grinned. In front of him sat a brilliant potions master, a man excellently positioned to spy on the elder Dumbledore brother. All he had to do was reel him in. "Severus, will you join me? Will you pledge your allegiance and your loyalty to me?"

Severus nodded. Why not? Becoming a spy for the cause would give the Order the upper hand. And give him something to live for. Without Remus he was nobody. As a spy, he was a useful nobody.

"Do you promise to serve me, and only me?"

Severus nodded again.

"Do you promise to work for the eradication of Muggles, Mud-bloods and Muggle-lovers?"

Severus nodded once more.

"Then join me, my child, and we will rule the world!"

tbc...

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Much Ado About Nothing