Chapter Twelve: A Dark Future
12:01 a.m., Tuesday morning, Hogwarts Grounds/Outskirts of Hogsmade
Severus Snape strode quickly towards the gates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, wondering, not for the first time, if he had done the right thing. Oh, it wasn't as if he hadn't though about his decision first…but somehow, it was in these moments in which he was summoned that he always doubted his choice. After all, Dumbledore had taken him in blindly when he'd sworn to leave The Dark Lord's side, and he could have had another life.
He could have done the deed for which both Voldemort and Dumbledore credited him. He could have chosen on which side to be in, before it was too late…
But he had had to choose where his loyalties would lay very carefully. Back then, he never knew for sure if the Dark Lord would return, and as Dumbledore offered his a job after his trial, he turned to him, instead. For the time being, he'd tried to disconnect himself from his former acquaintances and the rest of the world he knew, and had managed to forget some things-until his past had come back to haunt him once more.
His old friend, Lucius, had visited him one night by Floo Powder, giving Severus quite a surprise when he entered his quarters and glanced at the fire. His shock had then been followed by so many horrible memories he had tried so hard to push back in his mind…so many memories that he couldn't let go of, yet he didn't want to keep. Lucius, as always, had been unnervingly polite, yet menacing with his words. Choosing just the right things to remind him of, he had regained Severus as a Death Eater.
-- BEGIN FLASHBACK --
"Severus, my slippery friend…I would have never imagined you actually living the life of a school teacher," he had said smoothly, striding elegantly towards a black armchair and sitting, "Do the children suffice your need to make others feel beneath you? That has always been a gift of yours, I admit…the way you always managed to make people regret ever being born…The Dark Lord always saw that aspect of yours in high esteem," with a smirk at Severus pallid, nervous face, he continued, "But here you are wasting your time, Severus. Our Master will come back, and he will find us…it is better if we have things planned right from now, don't you agree? Where does your loyalty lay? Are you really going to choose this Mudblood-loving fool over the most powerful dark wizard to have ever lived? If you believe, out of sheer idiocy, that he saved you from Azkaban's clutches for anything other than using you as a tool against the Dark Lord…you are wrong, Severus, very wrong. What reason would Albus Dumbledore have for taking a cruel, sullen Death Eater and turning him into one of his little pawns to battle against his worst enemy?" he paused yet again, looking at Severus inquiringly. Snape remained silent, his cold black eyes narrowed in thought, and so Lucius continued again, this time, with a smile of triumph, "But you might be on a quest to find your true identity…perhaps you feel you have made a mistake? That maybe the life you previously chose was not meant for you? If that were the case, it would do well for you to revise your ancestry…generations of pureblooded, noble dark wizards, Severus, all fighting for the dignified cause of ridding the Wizarding World of riffraff like muggle-borns and the blood traitors that dare support them. Do you truly want to dishonor them by choosing to follow Dumbledore? Ah, and of course," he added, a glimmer of sudden inspiration crossing his eyes, "I needn't remind you that Dumbledore always favored James Potter-both in your schooldays and after-rather than you, and I have no doubt that with his precious son the situation will be no different…if the boy reaches Hogwarts alive," his eyes flickered over Snape as he grunted in disgust at the memory of his life-long enemy-the reason for his humiliation, and perhaps, the reason for which he became the man who he was today, driven by a thirst for revenge. Snape's face went from nervousness to disgust, and then to anger as he remembered everything.
-- END FLASHBACK --
And so here he was now, both a Death Eater and an Order member, believed to be a spy for them by each side. It seemed odd to say this to himself-he knew it was true, of course, but there were still things not even he understood. Things that were kept shielded from view; memories that brought forth a series of emotions and thoughts that just…confused him further. Things that he had kept from saying to his masters, to anyone else that dared approach him, and sometimes even to himself. Things that he pushed into the back of his mind and tried to forget about them, until someone reminded him of them, bringing them forth to haunt his very existence…
And as Severus walked in the pale moonlight that illuminated the village of Hogsmade, Lucius' words from seventeen years ago rang in his ears.
"Where does your loyalty lay?"
He still didn't know the answer to that question.
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Severus walked swiftly into the Riddle House, black robes billowing behind him, as he shut the door quietly behind him and proceeded to glare at everyone behind his mask. But it was not long before he noticed several things that were most unusual. For one thing, Wormtail was not in sight, when at this time, he was usually giving Nagini her morning plate of milk. The next odd thing he saw was that almost half of the Death Eaters had been summoned; a most strange occurrence, as the Dark Lord rarely summoned all his followers at the same time-it would draw suspicion, and although the house was rather big, there just wasn't enough space for them all. Their presence there on that night suggested something very urgent had happened, although Severus had already surmised so. When he had been summoned, he had experienced, for a brief moment, a raging fit of anger-in which he supposed he had dismissed Potter and his girlfriend-until later he returned to his senses and had gotten annoyed at having been summoned on that particular night. Albus had had him Apparating here and there all week with Order business, and the Dark Lord kept summoning him for meetings much more than once a week…and on top of all that he had his infernal students to deal with as well. It was merely Tuesday morning, and he was already longing for the weekend, where he might get in a few hours of sleep, at the least.
And yet, he knew he had to obey the Dark Lord's summon-especially when he seemed to be deeply enraged about something.
But what led him away from his muses was the sight of five or six of the Slytherin seventh years, huddled in the center of the group, Draco looking particularly smug; others looking as if they might puke, and others looking utterly terrified.
What the…?
"Welcome once again, faithful friends," said a cold voice from behind the youngsters, "And welcome to those who have come for the first time, which will certainly not be the last," Lord Voldemort peered at the small group of seventh years with a look of cruelty, his eyes lingering on Draco for a second, and he walked slowly forward towards the rest of the Death Eaters, who, despite the lack of space, managed to align themselves in a large circle surrounding their Master and the teenagers.
"We are gathered here under two very important occurrences, one less worthy of celebration than the other. Some of you already know of what I speak of, but most do not. Therefore, rather than proceed with the festivities, I shall deal with the more pressing matter at hand," Voldemort said softly, pacing around the circle with a look of utmost fury, "Yes…I am most displeased to inform you all that one of you have betrayed me. He is not present here, of course…had he been, he would not be alive to listen to Lord Voldemort as he speaks," He hissed menacingly, and several people shifted uncomfortably at the sight of him in such a temper, "He has fled, taking with him the key to the prophecy. I am speaking, of course, of Wormtail, and the Seer that was brought to me mere days ago-Sibyll Trewlaney." He paused, examining the looks of hatred, amazement, and confusion that invaded his Death Eaters' faces, which were very similar to the expression he wore when he found out.
"I am not completely sure of how, exactly, this came to pass. I am under the impression that he managed to sneak down and get her out whilst no one else was there. This brings us to yet another issue: Where was the person assigned for guard duty that night?" Voldemort asked silkily, his eyes immediately finding the accused amongst his friends, "Delaney-answer me," he commanded, glaring at the man through narrowed eyes. The man-tall, skinny, and raven-haired-stepped forward in one fluid motion of his long legs. He didn't look much older than twenty, and he gave off an aura of slight timidity. However, as he peered up to the Dark Lord, his eyes showed no fear.
"Master," he said in a slightly hoarse voice before clearing his throat, "I am deeply sorry. It is I who was assigned for guard duty that night,"
"Yes, I am aware, Delaney. Why do you suspect I called on you?" Voldemort spat impatiently, "And yet you have not answered my previous question. Where were you on Sunday morning, if not guarding the doors of this house?"
"I…I was spending leisure time…with…with my family, My Lord. It was my young one's first birthday," Delaney's voice was croaky yet again, and small drops of sweat began to creep down his face, "I believe I contacted Malfoy to inform him," He added, his eyes hardening as he caught a glimpse of Lucius.
"Did you? I believe I have made it very, very clear to you over the three years you have been in my service that your priorities must no longer be your family, our your fiends, but the ideal that Death Eaters stand for. You must put your duties as my follower before anything else," Voldemort said, "Had you listened, you might have been present for more of your son's petty birthdays," Voldemort pulled out his wand and pointed it straight at Delaney's face.
"Master…I beg you…my son, he is but a baby. Please…do not harm him…do whatever you want with me, but please…"
Voldemort laughed, "I won't. He is a pureblood, and it would not be wise to kill those who are gifted of the blood-who carry the purely magical blood of their ancestors. I will, however, kill you, Delaney. You have failed me one time too many, and I do not appreciate failures" he said maliciously.
Delaney bowed his head and remained silent for a long, long time, while Voldemort watched him with mingled curiosity and rage at his calmness. Finally, he looked up and straight into his Master's pitiless scarlet eyes, "Do as you see fit, My Lord," he said quietly.
"Oh, I will," Voldemort said with evil glee, waving his wand at him, "Silentio. No one present needs to hear your worthless screams of pain. I will not give you that privilege," he said as Delaney's voice slowly faded until no noise could be heard to come from his mouth, "And now…Caries Corium," he breathed, and instantly, a horrible sight greeted everyone's eyes. Delaney's skin began to disintegrate at a painfully slow rate, and it was only a few minutes before he was on all fours, opening his mouth as if to scream from the pain. His knees twitched and wobbled dangerously, and when the skin that covered them vanished, he fell to the floor completely, gasping-eyes wide-in pain.
Severus wretched his eyes away from the sight before him. Yes, Delaney deserved to be punished for his ridiculous decision, but it was obvious the Dark Lord was both seizing this opportunity to intimidate the newcomers and take his temper out on someone-unjustly. Delaney deserved a Crutacius and an Avada Kedavra, not a Caries Corium…that was to be reserved for far more special cases-namely Wormtail's.
Therefore, he instead turned his gaze to the horrified faces of the young, naïve seventh years. Even Draco looked properly squeamish and afraid of such a painful death. His normally cold, narrowed eyes were wide as he realized what the Dark Lord could do. Maybe, Severus wondered, the boy is not yet lost. Perhaps there is still a glimmer of humanity left in him…if that were so, he could be saved from this life. He could be steered away from his father's influence and placed under Dumbledore's care….
But a second later, Draco's expression changed to his usual sneer, and Severus realized he was not afraid, but fascinated by such power.
Delaney seemed very weak now, and had resorted to twitching horribly as he lay on the ground. With a look of disgust, Voldemort finally performed the Killing Curse, and evanescoed his corpse. He turned to the rest of the Death Eaters, a cruel look of amusement crossing his snakelike face, "Malfoy, Snape, Lestranges-yes, all of you-Mulciber, Macnair, Dolohov, stay after the ceremony. I have a task in mind for you concerning Wormtail,"
With a look that suggested that nothing relating to that subject was to be discussed for the time being, he turned to the young faces on the other side of the room. Malfoy, a glazed look in his eye, quickly fell to his knees, pulling Crabbe and Goyle down along with him and scowling at them. Theodore Nott, a quiet-looking skinny boy, did the same, though slowly, as if he were taking in the details of everything that was happening. Another boy, Blaise Zabini-rather short, skinny, with cold eyes and dark hair-remained standing, his eyes darting from Voldemort to the rest of the Death Eaters. He was apparently immersed in his thoughts, until Theo nudged him. Glaring at him, Blaise finally shrunk down to his knees.
"Welcome once more," Voldemort said, a mocking tone to his voice, waving his arms around slightly, indicating the surroundings, "I do not think I need to explain why you are here. I trust it has been made very, very clear to you, and that if you are here, you are willing to enter the Dark Lord's service," h paused, looking at them pointedly, as if daring them to say anything, and at their hurried nods, he continued, "Good. I do feel, however, that a warning is in order. After you become a Death Eater, there is no going back. You will be bound to me, and under several obligations if you wish to remain alive. As you have hopefully gathered from the previous discussion, Lord Voldemort does not tolerate betrayal or failure. You must be diligent, and you must realize that your true priority is now your tasks as a Death Eater. Otherwise, you will come to find yourself the target for several…ah…undesirable curses," anyone who didn't know who was speaking would have thought, by the words used, that Lord Voldemort meant a nasty hex or something of such nature, but the chilling tone of his voice and the evil, slightly amused look in his eye made the aspiring Death Eaters sure that he meant much worse.
"I trust that, for your sake's, you have learned from what you have witnessed tonight. But I will undoubtedly be proved wrong in the future, for no one can truly learn things until they experience them," Voldemort said, a feel of finality in his words, "And now, we shall proceed with the Marking Ceremony, as planned. Severus, arrange them accordingly," he commanded with a flick of his wand towards the small group of teenagers. Severus nodded and strode forward, giving them all a cold, uninterested glance before he commanded them to their places.
The Marking Ceremony was always a solemn event while it was in process. No one spoke except Voldemort, and there were barely any sounds to be heard except, of course, the reaction of the person when the Dark Mark was imprinted on their skin. It could range from a sharp intake of breath to a full-blown scream, and depending on that, the Dark Lord judged their character. Although he didn't assign newcomers any important tasks, he took their reaction into consideration in the future.
After the ceremony, there was usually a party arranged for them to celebrate. It was never that same day, of course, as the recently marked needed time to get used to the pain. It was very intense at first, almost unbearable, until later, it mellowed into a dull aching that they got used to. This year, the party was to be held on Saturday night, particularly to avoid issues with classes the next day, and such.
The ceremony lasted for around an hour and a half, and the boys Apparated to the Hogsmade grounds, while the rest of the Death Eaters headed for their homes, excepting those Voldemort had mentioned earlier.
Sitting in an armchair by the fire with his back to them, Voldemort motioned them to come towards him with a careless wave of his hand, "I am offering you an opportunity," he said, "to compensate for the mistakes some of you have made," His eyes flickered over Lucius, "or to simply prove to me that you are worthy of being in my service. The task I will assign you requires intelligence, patience, common sense, and determination, but you must also have a desire to punish Wormtail and a thirst for revenge for his treachery. I chose you, out of all my followers, because I sense you all have the capability to kill without remorse, to intimidate your prey, and because you have been faithful to me. I trust you will not prove me wrong?" he asked softly, a hint of menace in his voice.
"Of course not, My Lord," Malfoy said, "We shall succeed at whatever you wish for us to do,"
"Indeed," Dolohov said hoarsely, "We are eternally faithful,"
"Very well, then. My task for you is as follows: Four of you shall trace Wormtail and the woman. Of those four, two will deal with Wormtail-torture him all that you want, but bring him alive-and the other two will bring me the woman, but not before searching their whereabouts for anything useful. One of you-which will undoubtedly have to be Snape-will search her quarters in Hogwarts for anything that would prove useful. She is bound to have things stored there. You will also have to watch the new Death Eaters…" he added thoughtfully, "Now, that leaves three of you. Those three will hunt down certain Order members…you will only kill a few, as I need at least two alive,"
"You need not fret," he snapped at the sudden outburst of murmurs, and rose to his full height, "I have already devised which of you are best suited for what. Dolohov, Rabastan-you will go after Wormtail. Rodolphus, Macnair-you shall bring Trewlaney to me and search her current whereabouts. Snape-you know what to do. And that leaves Mulciber, Malfoy, and Bella to deal with the Order members," He paused, resting a long, bony finger on his chin as he frowned in thought, "As for specific orders…I want Wormtail tortured, injured even, but not killed. Trewlaney can be tortured if she resists to being brought, but obviously not killed. As for the Order members, listen closely, for these are the ones to be killed: Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. However, you are to bring Aberforth-Dumbledore's brother-and Remus Lupin. The murders are to be done quietly…have your fun, but they are to go by unnoticed," Voldemort said softly, "Should you disobey my orders in any way whatsoever…you shall face Lord Voldemort's full wrath…understood?"
The Death Eaters nodded and murmured promises, and Voldemort nodded, "Good. Now, there is a specific order in which this has to be done. The first of you to act will be those that have to bring the Order members. After they are interrogated, you shall use their information to track Wormtail and Trewlaney. As for Snape-you may act as soon and discreetly as possible," Voldemort said, and the Death Eaters nodded again to show that they understood, "Very well. You are dismissed," they all bowed and made their way out of the room quietly, not bothering to look at each other.
When they were finally in the kitchen, Lucius spoke up, "Well, it doesn't seem like such a hard task," he commented lightly, "I daresay it'll be quite enjoyable,"
Dolohov nodded, "I'll make sure Wormtail regrets what he did," he said menacingly.
"Ah, come on, Dolohov…don't take things so seriously. I, for one, am looking forward to a few good murders and tortures," Bellatrix said breezily, "Should be interesting, don't you think?"
Rabastan glared at her, "This isn't about murders or tortures, Bella. I thought you, of all people would take this seriously," he said, "If we don't focus completely on the task at hand, this whole thing could blow up in our faces!"
"Shut up, Rabastan, she can say whatever she wants," Rodolphus snapped, "We all have a different approach at things, but that doesn't mean we'll mess up,"
"I agree," Macnair said, "And Master told us to enjoy ourselves while we completed our task, so we have permission,"
Mulciber and Snape hovered beside them, throwing disdainful looks at their childish banter before Snape glanced at his watch and realized it was getting late. He grabbed his cloak and sent a single nod in his colleagues' direction before Dissaparating, without a word.
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7:55 a.m., Tuesday Morning, Sibyll's house - Killarney, Ireland
Wormtail staggered through the door of the house, clutching several bags of enough food to sustain them for about two weeks. A stubborn part of him kept urging him to just use his wand, and then run to hide somewhere else, but he managed to ignore it. There was no way Sibyll would consent to such a thing.
Their interaction was becoming very odd. It wasn't due to any type of infatuation-Merlin forbid-, yet Wormtail couldn't fathom a way to classify their relationship. Sometimes they behaved like a mother and a young child, with her telling him off for his idiocy and him complaining and begging her to forgive him. Sometimes they behaved like a brother and a sister would, fighting and yelling at each other until they each shut themselves in a separate room of the house. Yet the oddest times of all were when they acted like an old couple, showing consideration for each other and simply caring.
It was very, very unnerving, not to mention confusing,
But another reason Wormtail didn't leave the house was because he liked it. It was much larger than he had imagined by her descriptions, with 65 rooms. It was a Victorian mansion, and it was built by the lake shore. The house was flanked by huge Oak trees that formed a semi-forest around it, and that forest was surrounded by the lake's crystalline waters. The inside of the house only enhanced the feeling that one was in a castle, with its sparkly chandeliers, gigantic fireplaces, shiny wooden floor, and fancy furniture. There were numerous kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, leisure rooms, reading rooms, and she even had a room for herself, which was specifically used for practicing Divination.
Seeing it for the first time, Wormtail had stared, open-mouthed, and wondered why she had left this house in the first place.
Stupidly enough, he had asked, and to his surprise, he found that her expression was one of nostalgia and pain. At his question, however, she glared at him and returned to her brisk manner by inserting the key into the lock and opening the front door.
Sibyll's reaction when she caught sight of her house was one of amazement as well. It was spotless, even after all the years that had passed, and after searching the rooms thoroughly, they found that the house wasn't infected by any type of insect, either.
It was odd, Wormtail thought. He had been paying a lot of attention to her behavior ever since she fell asleep on the bus. She had woken up with a start, nudged him painfully so he could remove the sound-blocking charm she'd casted on herself, and quickly conjured a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write. Wormtail had tried several times to catch a glimpse of her writing, but he was met either with an illegible, tiny scrawl, or a glaring stare from her. She had spoken very little to him during the rest of the trip and while they walked through the city towards her house.
On Monday, she had occasionally ventured out of her room to speak to him, but whenever he asked about the parchment, she'd huff and stomp back into her room, leaving him puzzled. So today, Wormtail had resolved to stop asking and find out himself. He would sneak into her Divinations room-which was here she seemed to store it-read the damn parchment, and finally figure out what all the silliness was about.
After tucking away all the food in the first kitchen he could find, Wormtail made his way quietly to Sibyll's Divination room, which was located beside hers, in the West side of the house. It took around five minutes to reach, and by the time he did, Wormtail was already having doubts about whether this was a good idea after all. He was feeling quite tense now, and he jumped at any type of movement he heard. Sibyll's snores from inside her bedroom weren't much reassurance, as they reminded him that she could wake up at any moment and catch him.
Nevertheless, with a slight wince, he opened the doorknob to the Divinations room and entered. As he took a look around, he vaguely noted that he could hardly breathe through the perfumed air that crowded the room. The windows were shut, and covered by transparent reddish curtains that matched the walls, which were a vibrant shade of pinkish red. Wormtail also noted that there was a gigantic mirror covering the wall opposite the door, enhancing the room's spooky sort of artistic appearance. In the fireplace was a roaring fire, which added difficulty to Wormtail's already strained breathing. To the right there was a tall oak bookcase, packed with numerous volumes on themes concerning Divination. Beside it there was a large, comfortable armchair covered in various shawls of the kind Sibyll always wore, and a spindly table of a faded silver color. To Wormtail's left there was a larger, fragile-looking table, which held a crystal ball, various elegant quills, a shoe, two very thick books, and-bingo-the piece of parchment she had been writing in for the past two days.
With a delighted chuckle, Wormtail took a few steps toward the table and grasped the thin piece of parchment, marveling at how easy this whole thing had been. With no time to spare, he lowered his gaze to it and began reading, a confused frown crossing his face immediately.
It was some sort of…description. He noted that Hermione Granger-Potter's friend-was mentioned several times, as if the whole thing had to do with her. They were in some sort of valley…a large shadow was mentioned…and…a prophecy? But no, she never described its wording-the prophecy was merely mentioned to 'creep out of her lips depending on the child's decision'…whatever that meant. There was a lot of talk about accepting or declining some information, too, which he supposed was the prophecy.
Finally, there was a line dividing that strange description from the rest of the text. It seemed as if she was analyzing her previous description. Wormtail paused his reading and glanced at one of the heavy tomes on the table, titled The Seer's Complete Encyclopedia to Dream Interpretation - Includes Every Single Word in Five Known Languages, and Their Possible Meaning in a Dream… Apparently, this had been a dream, which made sense, considering she had been taking a nap and had woken up abruptly. But why would she be taking such a far-fetched and confusing dream seriously?
Wait, there was a word written on the top right corner of the parchment…it was almost illegible-Merlin, this woman needed writing lessons-but Wormtail finally deciphered it.
Vision
It had been a vision, then? Well, everything seemed to be falling into place-the long hours she spent in this room, gazing into a crystal ball and reading heavy tomes such as this one, the continuous notes on this parchment…
But why had that Granger girl been in it? What in the world could that buck-toothed Mudblood have to do with this?
Following the description was a gigantic list of the terms she chose to analyze from her dream, but Wormtail skipped it. There had to be something else that would be worth all this trouble…but no, afterwards the only thing she had written was a small note reminding herself to contact Dumbledore.
The traitor. How dare she even consider it again? It's inevitable that when she does, she'll have to confess about our compromise, and there's no doubt that Dumbledore will send some Order members to capture me.
Honestly-
Suddenly, the creak of a door behind him distracted him from his angered thoughts. He froze, eyes wide, as he realized she had just caught him red-handed.
"You--!" Sibyll choked angrily, "How dare you go through my things?" Wormtail turned, opening his mouth to apologize, when she began to speak again. This time, however, her voice was different-hard, and rather hoarse-and her eyes were strangely unfocused. She began reciting something, and by the sound of it, Wormtail registered that it was…a prophecy?
"It shall happen as the fourth month comes to an end..…The battle that has been long brewing shall take place, and the Wizarding World shall be divided into two halves..…He with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord shall face him in battle…Strength and powers unknown are to be revealed, and friendships will be sealed…..Blood will be shed, innocents will be murdered, and it will not stop until the Dark Lord is defeated….But for the Light to prevail He will be required to join in alliance with Her….And should They not perform in alliance, the future of the Wizarding World will be lost….It shall happen as the fourth month comes to an end….."
With a few blinks and coughs, she returned to normal, demanding to know what he thought he was doing in her Divinations room. Wormtail stared back, wondering once more if he had done the right thing by sneaking in there.
A/N: I know, I know…it's been like a month since I updated, but I've been incredibly busy at school and with my other things. I'm sorry… =(
As for this chapter, I think it turned out well. =) I don't have any specific comments, so…that's it.
Till the next!