My Undying Allegiance and My Immortal Soul

Prologue

If Only

Few people realise how close Sirius Black came to death that night in the Department of Mysteries.

Remus Lupin was one of those people; he spent the weeks after either glued to his remaining best friend's side or waking up in cold sweats from dreams where he cradled a sobbing Harry. Sirius laughed at him for both responses.

Harry Potter was another. He blamed himself for everything that went wrong that night and a few things that didn't. The scars that both Ron and Hermione bore were a constant reminder to him of how close they'd all come to death that night. Sirius, whilst he didn't exactly laugh at Harry, made it clear how he felt - in his mind 'death' and 'coming close to death' were infinities apart and if one spent all one's time worrying about the distance you'd never get anything done.

Neville Longbottom was also disturbed by Sirius' brush with mortality. Strangely disturbed, considering he barely knew Sirius. He, too, woke from disturbing dreams of worlds where Sirius had fallen through the veil, where Harry was a pale shade wracked with grief and, on one surreal occasion, from a dream where Bellatrix's spell turned Sirius into a bowl of petunias and a sperm whale. What Sirius thought of this: no one knew. Neville never told anyone about his dreams; not even when they started to get a lot more accurate.

Regardless of what anyone felt, especially Sirius, death had not been an infinity away that night - quite the contrary. It had been a mere step away. One step to the left, to be precise, that made the difference between 'glancing blow' and 'Sirius Black - RIP.'.

Chapter 1

An Anteroom of Hell... An Anteroom in the New Ministry, That Evening

Severus Snape stared out at the party, a look of long-practiced ennui on his face. He didn't usually turn up for these DeathEater soirees but attendance had been compulsory for tonight's little event and it would take a braver (and more stupid) man than he to disregard a direct summons from Lord Voldemort himself.

But, before boredom swamped him completely, Severus sighted rescue upon the horizon, in the lithe form of Lucius Malfoy. The icy blond was one of his oldest friends and held a special place in what Severus referred to (for want of a better word) as his heart. The sight of him sailing into view raised Severus' spirits considerably, Lucius being one of the few people present tonight whose prolonged company wouldn't bore the potions master to the point of rigidity.

Lucius moored alongside him in his position at the edge of the crush, an elegant flute of champagne resting between equally elegant fingers.

"It's unusual to see your charming visage here, Severus."

"Indeed. But He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed was rather insistent upon my attendance tonight so..."

"...here you are, indicating by your very presence that tonight is not merely the usual affair but something quite out of the ordinary." After stating this, Lucius raised both delicate eyebrows and flicked his gaze left to his friend, silently fishing for more information.

"It's no good looking at me like that as I don't have anymore of a clue than you. Probably less in fact." Severus answered sharply; as usual the presence of so many of his fellow man was bringing out in him not so much the milk of human kindness and more the bile resultant of a deep-seated hatred for the entire of one's species

Lucius turned to face his friend, words of condolence or ridicule on his lips, when in through the large double doors of the reception room walked his son, smirk on his face, wife on his arm and in his hand... What in all the Realms was that?! Resting comfortably in Draco's left hand was one end of an ornate leash; the collar of which was fitted snugly around the neck of a sandy-haired boy, who crouched, scowling up at them all from beside his 'master's' feet.

"Haven't you heard?" Severus purred in his ear, "The Dark Lord has started giving out pets."

Severus could almost feel the surprise radiating from Lucius at the sight of his son's latest 'acquisition' but he was probably the only one, Lucius kept a tight reign over his features, and he, Severus, did after all make a habit of noticing the emotional states of those around him, in the same way he made a habit of breathing and indeed, in his personal experience, the two were often closely linked. Having been a little more prepared for this blond-bombshell than his companion he took the moment to drink in Lucius' state of shock. It was a rare vintage which Severus didn't often have the chance to sample and so should always be savoured to the full, when the opportunity arose. But, all too soon, the beautiful moment was over and Lucius had regained near-perfect control and leaned his head back far enough to hiss

"What in Merlin's Name is that?"

"Seamus Finnigan, I think. Ex-student, ex-Gryffindor and ex-resistance fighter." Severus' tone expressed the joy that only a teacher can feel at the sight of a not-so-favoured old pupil chained and kneeling.

Lucius merely raised an eyebrow as he watched his son and daughter-in-law proceed past, said old pupil crawling at their heels, and then murmured, "Finnigan?"

"Half-blood," Severus answered, "Muggle father, I assume."

"You appear to know more about this than you've been letting on, do share... Oh!" The warm sun of understanding dawned across Lucius' pale face. "Who has our Great and Glorious Leader seen fit to gift you the leash of?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Severus muttered darkly.

"Try me," said Lucius wryly, "I'm going for five impossible things before breakfast and, so far, this is number three."

Severus raised his eyebrows in query. "Three?"

Lucius started to count off on his fingers, "You at a party, the Dark Lord giving out resistance members as pets and..." he trailed off expectantly.

"The Dark Lord giving out Remus Lupin and Sirius Black as pets." Severus finished sourly.

"To you?" Lucius looked disbelieving.

"To me." The dour potions master replied, with the same kind of finality usually reserved for telling close personal friends 'Yes, I do only have ten days left to live.' "He requested that I look after them for him."

"Bloody Hell!" Lucius breathed. "If ever any more proof was needed that our glorious leader is a couple of phantoms short of a haunted house, there it is. What exactly does he expect you to do with them?"

"I am buggered if I know."

Casa del Snape... The House of Severus Snape, That Afternoon

Severus Snape looked through the twisting fumes rising up from the surface of his latest potion, to see a coat hook on the opposite wall of his laboratory flashing a low blue. The coat hook (a present given to him by an elderly female relative from his mother's side of the family) took the form of a grotesque human face with an abnormally large nose acting as the hook. Considering the proportions of the gift Severus had assumed that he had greatly annoyed the female relative at one time or another and so received it with the firm sense of a job well done.

The reason for the blue glow was evidence of Severus' long held view that 'the ornamental should also be useful' and the coat hook had been charmed to glow should anyone approach the house. The blue colour indicated that the house was being approached in the usual manner i.e. from the front; its lack of intensity indicated there were only one or two people approaching. To the casual observer this may have appeared paranoid but one of Severus' maxims for life was 'just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you'. This was the one he also used as his public explanation as to why he remained perpetually single (of course it had nothing to do with him being a neurotic, opinionated, crotchety, old git). And he had never been much impressed by House Elves, having had some experience (admittedly second-hand) into how untrustworthy they could be.

At first, he did consider ignoring the door, the potion he was involved with was at a crucial stage, the sort of crucial stage that could end up redecorating his laboratory for him if it wasn't carefully overseen, and anyway he wasn't the most genial of hosts at the best of times. But just then a sharp stabbing pain in his left forearm made him reconsider; the Dark Lord did not like to be left waiting on the doorstep. Severus' hurriedly placed a stasis spell over the cauldron and rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He pelted down the hall, calling out the unlocking spells as he went and came to a sudden and undignified stop just shy of crashing into the front door. One deep breath and a whispered Alohomora opened the door to reveal a broadly grinning Wormtail and Lord Voldemort, whose own lips bore a colder smile.

"My Lord," Severus murmured and acknowledged his master with a short bow. This was followed by a quick "And Wormtail, I am blessed." Wormtail shot him a black look.

"The pleasure is all mine, Snape, I assure you." he replied, in a voice that dripped with sarcasm.

"Now, now, boys." Voldemort said, in a voice of almost fatherly disapproval, causing a mutual shiver to run up the backs of both men.

At this juncture Severus stepped back from the doorway, allowing his guests to enter and then continued on into a dark sitting-room where a large wing-backed armchair and a long sofa in deep red faced each other on either side of a low table. Resting on the table was a hastily summoned tea tray holding a pot of Earl Grey (already pouring its contents into three china cups) and a plate of assorted biscuits.

The Dark Lord seated himself regally in the armchair and allowed his host to furnish him with tea and jammy dodger, he then looked on in amusement as Severus and Wormtail attempted to put as much distance between themselves as physically possible whilst still occupying the same sofa. After a long and glare-filled interval he cleared his throat softly and was rewarded with the sight of both men jerking their heads around and facing him, quivering like compass needles who'd rather not be pointing north.

Voldemort opened his mouth and once again caused the two in front of him to shiver. "This isn't merely a social call, Severus."

Severus refrained from rolling his eyes by the narrowest of margins, "Really, My Lord?" He pasted a look of polite interest over his naturally sarcastic expression.

"We've come here to make a little request of you, well, two little requests."

//Oh really, just two little requests? Like my undying allegiance AND my immortal soul?! No, you've already got that, haven't you, you scaly, red-eyed, megalomaniac. You and Albus, may both your souls rest in the deepest pits of Hell for what you've put me through!//

Severus longed to shout this thought out at the creature sat across from him, but that would have been out-and-out suicide. And no matter what he'd been through over the years he never considered that option. The Slytherin instinct for self-preservation ran deep and wide, and there was only one thing in this world he'd have ever committed such obvious kamikaze for. And Albus Dumbledore had been dead and gone for years now, though Severus had entertained the fear that the barmy old coot would return from the grave to haunt him and been bitterly disappointed when the old wizard hadn't.

He then realised he'd been silent a little too long. "Ah, you know you may ask anything of me, My Lord."

"Of course, Severus, you have ever been our loyal servant." Voldemort grinned around this statement like a snake swallowing a particularly tasty egg. He did so love holding over this proud man the fact that only he and Wormtail were aware of Severus' little 'indiscretion'. It had been soon after the death of that muggle-loving fool, Dumbledore, that Severus had seen the light and rejoined the side of right. Voldemort had always known that this would happen, Severus was a highly intelligent man after all and he'd have realised that no-one ever truly escaped the Dark Lord's grasp. In fact, it was only this great intelligence that had kept Severus alive in the first place. Others who had deserted him had paid the price and their deaths had been slow and lots of fun (for him at least). He recalled with particular relish Igor Karkaroff, who had pleaded for his life most eloquently, even after he'd lost his tongue. But Severus was too useful a tool to destroy needlessly and watching him squirm was far too much fun to give up. Undoubtedly they had both entertained the thought that one of his DeathEaters would work it out but not one had ever confronted Severus or himself about the matter. It was enough to make a Dark Lord despair sometimes, but he had supposed his comment at his resurrection about 'a loyal servant at Hogwarts' had stuck in their minds and it was at least nice to know that they listened to him.

Severus remained almost impassive at the not-so-subtle dig; he couldn't quite help the slight intake of breath at the realisation that this was going to be one of those requests, something that would have him waking up in a cold sweat for at least a month. To one side of him, Wormtail sucked menacingly on a chocolate finger.

"And that is why we have seen fit to reward you for your many years of diligent service with a gift..." Lord Voldemort paused long enough to allow Severus time to get properly worried before he nodded at Wormtail. Wormtail reached into his robes and pulled out a short length of thick, rusting chain which he placed on the table and proceeded to tap twice with his wand. There was a short burst of what sounded like static and a slight fuzzing of the air around the chain, then... nothing. Wormtail looked at it in horror for a moment, and then tried tapping it again with more force. Severus considered allowing this to go on indefinitely but decided it would only be prolonging the inevitable so he spoke up,

"If that is a PortKey, it won't work in here. The wards on this house prevent any kind of transportation spell within its walls."

Wormtail growled and then got up; taking the chain with him, he went to the door, muttering all the way about "paranoid slime balls who should get a life instead of spending all their time putting unnecessary warding on their houses". Severus smirked, he was well aware it was petty and childish but baiting the man who had once been Peter Pettigrew was still as much fun today as it had been at school. And he certainly needed some fun if this day was going to turn out as badly as he suspected.

There was some banging then from the hall and a moment of sotto voce cursing before Wormtail reappeared. In tones of almost painful politeness he made his request.

"Would you be so kind, Severus, as to remove the wards from your door, so that I may go outside?"

"But of course, you only had to ask." Severus answered him brightly before getting up to go in to the hall and mutter the correct unlocking spells at the impassive door. Wormtail shoved past him and grabbed at the door handle, which remained consistent in its refusal to turn. Wormtail turned round savagely, his mouth open, ready to vent his ire.

"You haven't said the magic word, Peter." Severus stood, looking for all the world like he was enjoying himself immensely. Wormtail looked like the effort it was taking him to hold his tongue was causing him some kind of stomach ulcer. They stood in impasse for a long minute before Wormtail ground out:

"Please!"

A quick flick of his wand and an Alohomora later Severus returned to his seat, repressing a grin, badly.

"It's that kind of attitude that doesn't win you any friends, Severus." Voldemort chided him.