Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Torment Completed	By : Kvarta Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 31713 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling. This story is purely for entertainment purposes, no money is being made from it.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. This story is purely for entertainment purposes, no money is being made from it.
A/N: Another chapter that is free of mistakes, much better and stronger thanks to my beta Loki God of Evil.
Harry crept into the room. Taking a glimpse around, his eyes landed on the two that he was expecting to see. Snape was sleeping as he always seemed to do these days. And Hermione, she was curled up on a chair by the side of his cot.
He approached her and tenderly lay a hand on her shoulder to rouse her from slumber. She jumped, startled at his touch. Harry wasn't surprised by this, he'd been fully expecting of it. "Heya, Hermione. How are you?" He asked, genuinely worried and concerned for her. Looking her over, Harry could see that her eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles around them. Possibly from lack of proper rest, food and sunlight.
"Oh, he is fine, better I think," She answered, not fully paying attention to what had been asked.
"I wanted to know how you are. You look tired?"
She recomposed herself, not enjoying the look of sympathy cast her way. "I am, a bit, nothing majorly concerning about me though."
"Look, I know I asked you earlier. M-maybe it's time to see if you can share…"
Her head had shot up at Harry's words. Eyes suddenly wide, she shook her head violently, cutting Harry off mid-sentence. "No! No, sorry, please. I can't… People still coming in, and you keep bringing Malfoy and I don't trust them. Besides, you know how Professor Snape can be, why would you want to trouble more people later? He will be mad as it is."
Frowning Harry faltered at her words. "But surely…"
"Harry, please. You can't imagine what I've been through…what I've, seen. Please, I can't bear the thought that someone else can sell that, or him for five minutes of glory. I-I can do this, please let me. Trust me?"
He had always trusted her judgement. Though this nagged at him, she was neglecting herself, in a way. "Fine, if it is your decision, I'll respect it," he sighed. Well, what was done was done. "Wait, what did you see exactly?" He was naturally inquisitive.
"You, you ah don't want to know." She sighed, averting her gaze.
"Hermione?" He questioned, confused.
She was silent, chewing her lower lip, a frown wedged on her brow. "Well…what do you think? Who gives him his baths?" She snapped.
"Poppy?" He replied. Though it was more of a question because he was mostly unsure.
"He is my responsibility, Harry." She sighed, shaking her head.
Harry had the feeling that Hermione was treating him like a child. "Isn't that a bit too much of a responsibility?" He asked, worried.
"It is, what it is. I don't mind it."
"He will kill you" he whispered, horrified and she grinned.
"Not if I can run faster than he can cast a spell." She countered. A tired smile graced her features and between them, they laughed at the inappropriate humour. "Harry, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Can you bring me some books? I have an idea, I don't want to raise hopes, but if it works, he might wake up. I need you to be quiet about this for a while. Can you do this for me, please?"
Snape stirred and started to shake.
"Go, Harry."
"Maybe I can help…." He offered.
"NO! Go. Please, go."
"Hermione?…"
"I won't let anyone see him like this. Not even you Harry, GO!" She turned to him, wand in hand. Sticking to her word because it wouldn't be fair on Snape. Her professor was already vulnerable as it was, he didn't need additional rumours going around.
"I'm going, I'm going." He shuffled away. "Owl me to let me know how he is?"
"Sure, Harry. Thank you for dropping by." She mumbled, turning back to Snape. Picking up a damp cloth, she wiped at his face carefully and as delicately as she could. Hermione was crooning to him.
Harry was confused by Hermione's insistence that he leave but who was he to question? Wandering aimlessly, Harry was trying to find Poppy, but after a while, he'd given up. Maybe he could send her an owl too?
~ S ~ S ~ S ~
Something had happened, he didn't know what it was, but something definitely happened.
More often than not, Snape found that he was being invited to social events. It felt like every pure-blood family wanted him to visit them. And Morgana was, willingly, at his elbow if he attended.
Annoyingly, Potter and Black were still attacking him at every opportunity they could get. Black preferred to do his attacks openly, Potter on the other hand, he seemed to favour the covert, choosing those situations without witnesses to speak of.
But his occlumency and legilimancy were now enhanced, much further than he had been from the year before.
He was not that anymore…the moment he'd managed to establish his occlumency walls around himself, Snape realised that it was something he didn't want to share, not even with Lucius. Swiftly, he had learned how to create a double set of walls surrounding himself. One was always hidden and the other one was more a backup, or one that might be feasible for those skilled enough to break the first. Some walls he never dropped, not even in his sleep, the others…he would decide as the situation arose.
Legilimency was another matter, and he openly discussed it with Lucius at every given opportunity.
Lucius was impressed, not just with that but also with Snape's skills as a potioneer and duelist. Additionally, his skills at charms and the Dark Arts were impressive too, surpassing those of his own.
Snape had started to practice, smuggling some Muggle books home and learning from them, martial arts too, defensive manoeuvres just in case. Amazingly, his reflexes were getting better by the day. He'd also perfected his sneaking skills, but that wasn't really something he'd wanted to hone, because it was much more about need than it was about interest.
Something else had changed as well; when he was being attacked, his fellow housemates would come to his side, or to his aid. Strength in numbers, as he called it. Not just that, but the girls would also smile at him when they passed in the vast corridors of Hogwarts. He was always on high alert though.
Lily, she was still ignoring him and it stung, painfully. But this pain would easily transform into anger; and often, it was so easy these days.
And, by the end of the school year, he was out of his mind with worry. He knew that something odd was going on yet no one kept him in the loop. Perhaps it was because his summer was full of social gatherings and events and he'd been too preoccupied to take notice. The thing was, Snape was finally gaining recognition, climbing the social ladders, at least he thinks he was.
It was all so, strange to him, considering his upbringing.
Darkness. That was a good year...wasn't it?
Or was it the worst year?
That was the year of his decline. So why now? Why that peace? Was it to show him his past mistakes? To distress him or to emphasize that he was not ever meant for happiness, not even in small doses?
Was this memory meant to punish him for the respect he'd received? Should all of his happiness be stolen away? He'd earned it surely, worked damned hard for that respect, so why take it now?
Snape was in the living room. Sitting composed in the old tattered wing-back chair he favoured and he was reading. A favourite pastime of his. To his side, his walls and bookshelves were finally filled with literature, a stark contrast to how it had been those few years ago. In fact, Abraxas library had filled almost three walls of bookcases. Snape knew that knowledge was never easier to access, not like it was for him now. And because of this, and his expansive book collection, he sat back and soaked it all in.
The door rattled, disturbing his concentration. Snape could hear Lucius's voice calling out to him.
"Severus?"
"In here Lucius." He bookmarked the page, getting up to greet his friend.
"Ah, you are dressed?" It was a question, not a general observation. Sometimes Lucius couldn't be sure of Snape's mood.
"Disappointed?" He smirked.
"No, not particularly" Lucius replied with a coy smile. "Come, we are going to the club."
Rolling his eyes internally, Snape looked up briefly. "Lucius, I am in the middle of the Draconian chronicles and I would like to finish it. I am in no mood for air-headed witches or Morgana," he added the latter, scathingly.
"Who mentioned Morgana?" He chuckled. "Surely it is time to move on, my friend. She served her purpose, did she not?"
"And what of her reputation?" He wasn't really concerned but he asked anyway. He was just relieved in a way because he didn't have any further obligations towards her.
"What reputation?" Lucius laughed darkly. "Didn't you hear, her family are negotiating her marriage with some Russian?"
"Thank you, Salazar," Snape mumbled, gratefully.
"It is time to broaden your horizons, my friend. Let's go."
He allowed himself to be dragged out of the house to an apparition point.
The apparition point they were travelling to was the remnant of an old half burned house at the very end of the street.
It was the type of house and street that often garnered unwanted attention from curtain twitchers and nosy neighbours. The types who would peak through the windows, muttering because they had nothing better to do. On their way to the point of destination, there was a woman screaming down the street.
Stench, filth and poverty surrounded them as they wandered. How he hated his neighbourhood. How he hated…Muggles too, what with their small petty lives and their broken ways.
No, no he didn't hate them! He didn't!
He hated bullies and those who hurt their wives and children! He hated those that tortured for pleasure and the lowlives that would beat their kids!
Furthermore, he hated his father! He'd never really had a reason to hate Muggles! But for some reason, he did…then. And he wanted to eradicate them, the same way one would eradicate vermin.
It was a Yule Ball. And, again, he was in Malfoy Manor, hidden in a library, of all places.
Snape was actually hiding from witches now. His mind was still reeling from that fact. And then of course, Lily was still with Potter, and the rumours about their planned wedding had begun to float around the school.
That was painful to hear, it hurt, it still hurt, even now. He had hoped she would have come to her senses but it wasn't to be. The door to the library opened and Snape lifted his head from the book to look at the entrant as he steadily approached.
"I knew I would find you here, Severus." He smiled, knowingly. "I want to introduce you to someone." Lucius had an edge to his voice, his posture, rigid and official. Snape had thought that, judging by Lucius' stance that this person was surely someone highly important. He noticed a cloaked figure standing behind Lucius and the power rolls in waves from that person.
He stood up, face blank but polite, back straight. "My Lord, Severus Snape."
The cloaked figure paced to him, standing in front of him before shedding its cloak. The man was, for lack of a better word, beautiful. No introductions were needed, and he bowed his head deeply.
"My Lord, I am humbled by Your presence." He trembled because he'd heard that at school and in the dormitories, pupils' would talk about this man, but he was really rather like the Wizard of Oz. Hiding and keeping his mystique about his person, an invisible voice behind a curtain and only the most deserving ones would ever manage to see him, even after they had been recruited.
"Lucius has told me so much about you over the years. When I heard that you were present and here tonight, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet a wizard that even old dear Abraxas held in such high regard."
"My Lord…" he whispered, voice stuck in his throat. "…It is a too higher praise for an unworthy half-blood like me." He felt that his face was burning.
"Come now, Severus, one cannot choose the family one was born in." His eyes flickered at the man, then back to the floor. The feeling of his heart wanting to burst out of his chest. At this rate, Snape was certain it would, only if it wouldn't cause a stain on the man's robes. "I hear you are hoping to join my ranks."
"I do, my Lord." Words slipped easily from his tongue.
"I also heard that you were lusting over a mudblood?" He caught a glance of Lucius, his eyes pleading him, to be honest.
"I am ashamed, but I still do, my Lord."
"No one is perfect Severus, but I am pleased to hear that you managed to control your unhealthy obsession and turn to Ladies more deserving of the people in my ranks." His voice was soft and compelling, but it held a brittle note of warning.
"I am doing my best, my Lord."
"Lucius tells me you surpass him in potions?"
"I could never…"
"If Lucius isn't humbled by admission, you should not be as well. I want you to brew me a potion, a poison of sorts. Can you do it?"
"Yes, my Lord." He didn't need to know what kind of poison it was. All he would need was the instruction and he'd do it without any problems, Snape was certainly confident in his skill.
"Look at me," ordered the man and Snape's eyes met his. They weren't quite human but hypnotising nonetheless. He could feel a breach in his brain and he dropped his outer set of walls, welcoming the intrusion. After a while, the man pulled back, not gently but he didn't complain "There is a place among my ranks for a man of your skills, Severus. Do you know what the tasks are, in order to prove yourself worthy?"
"Tasks are different for different ranks," He replied and the Dark Lord nodded approvingly.
"Correct. You, Severus, will brew me a poison as a first task. You will duel against the adversary of my choice as the second task. And should you prove victorious, you will bring me…ah, but your father is dead, is he not?"
"He is, my Lord."
"Then, you will bring me the body of one Muggle male of your choice."
"Dead or alive my Lord?" He asked in a crazy boost of pride.
Three tasks, inner circle, he would never have hoped to reach such a high rank, little less to be recruited into it.
The man stared at him. "I was just inquiring as to whether the dark Lord would like to watch the filth as he dies at my hand or not?"
"Why not? Entertain me, prove yourself worthy." The Dark Lord finally answered after a nerve wracking pause. "Lucius vouched for you, do not disappoint me."
"I wouldn't dare, my Lord."
"I expect the poison by tomorrow evening. Lucius has the instructions." He didn't need to motion to the blonde wizard behind him. "The duel will take place sometime in April, you will be excused from school for this. And you will, ahem, entertain me, two days after school finishes?"
"Yes, my Lord. I humbly thank You." He said, falling to his knees. Partially because the power he felt around the Dark Lord was overwhelming because his knees gave in.
The Dark Lord nodded again, Turning on his heels, he took his cloak and exited the room without saying another word, followed just as promptly by Lucius.
Trembling, Snape dragged himself to the chair. The blood was coursing through his veins, fast, his heart was hammering wildly. And he felt something different for once, he felt. . .pride. He was duly elated by the prospect of promised power. He wouldn't just be admitted to the Dark Lord's ranks, he would be receiving a mark. And what an honour, a high honour indeed. Intoxicated by the Dark Lord's praises and those of his closest friend. The book remained laying on the table, forgotten.
No! No! No! Not that! I know I made a mistake! He respected me, he showed interest, I was swayed! I know it was a mistake. Please, I don't want to remember anymore. I don't want to remember the rest of it. I don't want to… Please! Stop! I don't want to relive the rest!
- 7
- 8
- 9
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Torment *Completed*

Torment Completed