Silver Snake

Silver Snake

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Chapter 2:

Petrificus Totallus

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"'...Werewolves are by nature Dark creatures. Their general species...' Oh, Merlin spare us all!" Remus exclaimed in frustration, closing the book with a thud. He then shoved it to the continuously growing pile of rejected books. Sighing, he took the next one on the other pile, placing it in front of himself on the table. "'Lycanthropes and Lycanthropy,'" he read aloud. "Now, let's see..."

He started glancing through the book. At times he nodded approvingly as he saw something he agreed with. At other times he snorted and mumbled, "Rubbish." This book, however, he kept with him far longer than the others before it.

He woke from his "book slumber" as he heard somebody coughing in the doorway. He raised his eyes from the ancient book, noticing that it was already dark in the outside. He saw Tom standing in the doorway, watching him intently.

"What do you want?" he asked warily. He knew that Voldemort wouldn't hurt him, nor would he allow the Death Eaters hurt him. Nevertheless, he felt nothing short of terrified around the man. This man had murdered, commanded to murder, tortured, and driven insane more people than he even dared to think about.

And he couldn't hate the man to save his life.

"I want to talk with you," came the casual reply to his question.

Remus nodded briefly. "Talk about what?" he asked, placing a piece of parchment on the page he was reading for a bookmark. Then he closed the book, turning his chair around.

"Well... Many things, actually," the Dark Lord said calmly. He took another chair that was facing Remus and sat on it. For a moment, he just watched Remus without saying anything.

Then, just as the werewolf was getting nervous, the Slytherin said, "Severus."

"What about him?" Remus asked, surprised and not a bit startled. Did Tom suspect something?

"He's quite an interesting specimen, don't you think?" Tom asked, taking one of the books Remus had abandoned. Glancing carelessly through the ancient pages he continued, "Posing as a spy for both sides... Both in the Order and my Death Eaters. Sometimes, I wonder where his true loyalties lie... If anywhere at all."

Remus couldn't help but nod. Just the same thing he'd himself wondered numerous times. Who Severus was in essence loyal to, Dumbledore or Voldemort? Or, perhaps, he was just the true epitome of Slytherin he seemed to be, and was loyal only to himself?

"Anyway," the Dark Lord said then, "I think I have to keep a closer eye on him. But, I still need him. He's quite possibly the best one there is when talking about potions. Therefore, I cannot just kill him at the first suspicions, as I would do to anybody else."

"Why are you telling this all to you?" asked Remus, raising his eyebrow. "What if Severus truly was a spy, and I warned him about your suspicions? Or if I leaked some other valuable information to the Light?"

"There's no danger of that," replied Tom. "The bond makes us unable to harm each other, directly or indirectly. And you telling anything of a particular value to someone from Dumbledore's forces would harm me indirectly."

"Such logic you have here," Remus snorted under his breath, but didn't say anything aloud.

"I won't lie to you," the Dark Lord continued. "The sole purpose of kidnapping you was to get you here, so I could create the bond. You were the only option, as you are the only Dark creature in the rows of the Light, and only one from the Dark can be bonded by that spell."

Remus snorted. Like he hadn't known it before! It was hard enough to be a Dark creature on the side of the Light, but to be the only one... It was, to put it simply, insufferable.

"Why I wanted to create the bond, well, that reason is even simpler," Tom explained with a casual tone. "You are still young, even very young, in the wizarding measures. And, the bond I created between us tries to make both participants equal - and it changes them to the better. So, as your body is young and strong, it made me, too, young." He gestured towards his well-toned body and handsome face, and said, "I have to admit that I'm pleasantly surprised. This is indeed a lot better than my old body... If that could be called a body." He laughed, a sharp, yet soft laugh that sounded almost like a snake hissing.

Remus shivered. That laugh was by no means pleasant, and still... Still it sounded almost familiar to him. Almost... enjoyable.

He shook that kind of thoughts from his mind immediately. If he continued on this rate, he'd soon be head over heels in love with this monster. And that was the very last thing he wanted.

"As I'm now bound to you, I'm trying to make your staying here as comfortable as possible," the dark-haired man said, eyeing him with an almost amused glint in his now-blue eyes. "Feel free to continue your research in the library. This is almost as well equipped as the one in Hogwarts, although I doubt anything could match that amount of literature. And if you need anything, ask any of the Death Eaters - they've been given the instructions to obey all of your wishes."

Remus nodded slowly. No surprises there, then.

"Oh, and before you try something stupid," Tom added cheerfully, "let it be known that I've placed antisuicidal charms on you. They are twisted upon a daughter of one of my servants - she's currently on her first year in Hogwarts, innocent little creature. Your suicide wouldn't do much more harm to me but having to return to my old body, but I've taken too much liking to my current form to allow you that kind of escape. So, think carefully before you do anything."

Remus still didn't say anything. He simply glared at the man with a gaze full of hatred. The thought of suicide hadn't yet crossed his mind, but he supposed he'd have pondered it sooner or later. Whether he'd tried it, he didn't know, but now even that was impossible to him.

"I see you're doing some research," said Tom then, gesturing towards the piles of books. "About your curse, right?"

"Right," replied Remus, not bothering to deny an obvious truth. "I'm quite interested in what exactly it is in the curse that makes werewolves talented in Dark Arts."

"Maybe I could advise you in that," suggested the Dark Lord then, glancing at the pile of abandoned books. "Perhaps you'd like a game of chess later this evening?"

As Remus had given his agreement, Voldemort bid his goodbyes, and left, leaving Remus alone to the dim library. The werewolf shrank into himself, glancing around himself. Before, the semi-darkness had been just comfortable and familiar to him - wolves were nocturnal creatures, and so were werewolves. Now, however, the shadows creeping towards him simply horrified him.

Not because he'd felt uncomfortable with darkness, but because he felt comfortable with it.