Into the Mouth of Hell

Into the Mouth of Hell: Chapter 12

Parade of Sins

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

Severus swayed slightly at the sight of the transfigured face under the Dark Lord's hood: green eyes with red, flickering centers, two slits for nostrils where a nose should have been, and taut skin that seemed forcibly stretched across the sharp bones of his very thin face. Severus remembered to hide his disgust and willed himself to stand tall. Then, thinking better of it, he lowered himself onto one knee.

The Dark Lord chuckled. "Already you are humbled. Good." Severus kept his eyes downcast as the Dark Lord circled to stand behind him. "Do you know why I am here, Severus Snape?"

Severus thought quickly. "Because I called upon you."

The Dark Lord chuckled again. It was a very cold chuckle that sent very cold shivers up Severus' spine. "Foolish boy. You did not call upon me. I called upon you." His voice was low and dark, a threatening hiss.

"My apologies, Lord Voldemort."

In a quick flash, the Dark Lord had swooped over Severus, so that he was practically hovering above him. "You do not speak my name!" His voice hissed in Severus' ear. "My name is power! A power you do not even dream to possess!"

Severus shivered again, violently this time. The Dark Lord's breath on his neck was ice cold, like a flurry of snow. And Severus was scared. At least the liquor had done some to steel his courage. "I am sorry, my Lord," Severus choked out amidst a bone rattling shiver.

The Dark Lord rose swiftly and walked past Severus, the hem of his robes flicking across the floor of the parlor as if he was floating. Severus listened, but he heard no footsteps to betray the Dark Lord's position. Uncomfortably, Severus kneeled in silence on the stone floor, waiting to be addressed again by the powerful wizard who was hovering around his parlor.

"So," hissed a voice close to the far windows where Severus had looked for Lucius earlier in the night, "you think you are ready to join my ranks in service? What makes you so sure?"

"It is my destiny, my Lord, to serve Slytherin and protect the honor of my noble House." Severus' voice came out in a current of strength that he was momentarily surprised to have. He heard the swish of robes, the only sound signaling movement. After a pause, the Dark Lord spoke again.

"Please stand, Severus."

Severus was taken aback by the familiarity and sudden lack of malice in the Dark Lord's voice. He stood slowly and raised his eyes to find the Dark Lord standing in front of a mirror that Severus had never seen before in his life, let alone within the confines of Snape Hall. It was at least eight feet tall, held within a frame of silver serpents that writhed around the glass. The Dark Lord stood facing the mirror, his back to Severus. When Severus rose, the Dark Lord flicked his wrist in a manner as to suggest Severus approach. It was as if strong cables connected Severus' limbs with the Dark Lord's fingers, for, as he beckoned, Severus felt his body automatically acquiesce. Severus seemed to float to stand beside the Dark Lord so that he, too, could look in the mirror. He immediately noticed that something was peculiar about it, but it took him a few seconds to realize that the mirror reflected the room without the inhabitants.

"Do you know what this is, Severus?"

Severus answered obediently. "It appears to be a mirror, my Lord."

"A mirror, yes," the Dark Lord said, raising his right hand to just in front of the surface of the glass. "But most mirrors only reflect the present," he paused, and touched the surface of the mirror with a long bony finger. The glass rippled as if it were the surface of a pond and his finger was a pebble disturbing its calm. Severus watched with amazement as the ripples vanished, disappearing beneath the frame of sterling snakes, and he was able to see his own visage in the mirror at last, looking terribly disheveled and worn. The Dark Lord's reflection was still absent. "This particular mirror, however, shows us also the paths we have traveled and the future of things to come."

Severus watched as the Dark Lord touched his finger gently to the glass surface again. When the ripples vanished, Severus was absorbed in incredulity as a flash of scenes replaced his reflection. He saw a village burning, a woman crying as she clutched a child, a man raising a defiant fist, a succession of babes being birthed, then figures who were unmistakably his parents making love in a field, and his mother in her pregnancy. The scenes slowed a bit, and Severus watched his own birth, several events from his childhood he could not remember, the fight his parents had when his father accepted his job at the Ministry, Severus running into the library, pulling books off the shelf, and he and his mother waiting on Platform 9 ¾.

The scenes slowed down further, coming in longer flashes when Bella entered them: her imploring eyes on the train as she asked for Severus to teach her the Cruciatus Curse, holding hands under the stars that first Boxing Day, the tickling fit on the bed, Bella standing over Severus' four-poster in the Slytherin dorms, the fight between the Black sisters on the lawn, Auntie Elladora pulling the two of them into a fierce hug, Bella at breakfast in the Great Hall demanding justice and suggesting anarchy, and a few flashes from the days in the Slytherin Dueling Club.

Severus watched his memories unfolding in the mirror, mingled with events he had only guessed at: confrontations with Black and Potter, Bella screaming on top of the north tower, Narcissa covered in blood from the waist down in St. Mungo's (three times in a row), Lucius sobbing in the parlor of Malfoy Manor with a bottle of scotch, Severus being held upside down in the air by Potter and Black, Bella's wedding day, flashes of Rosier and Wilkes practicing hexes, and Severus in the tunnel under the Whomping Willow. Slowly, the scenes progressed through the past year: his father writing at his desk in the library, Severus shooting down flies in his bedroom, Severus studying while figures moved quickly about him in the Slytherin common room.

The last scenes seemed to happen in slow motion. Severus pushed back a sting of tears as his mother wrote in her diary, then took a long draught from a small vial. Next was the funeral. Severus saw his own gaunt face reflected back at him. He watched himself pacing the halls. He saw Lucius at the front door, then Lucius throwing his glass in the fire. Severus saw himself reading the journal. Then Bella at the mantle, Bella in his arms, Bella pulling him onto the floor, Bella moaning, Bella wrapping her legs around him, Bella bucking, and then Bella's face twisting with emotion. Severus was embarrassed. He felt uncomfortable witnessing his most intimate moments with the Dark Lord, great wizard or no. He felt exposed, vulnerable, bare.

The Dark Lord spoke in an amused tone as Severus pulled his eyes from Bella. "I have always been intrigued by women. In ecstasy or agony, they fill with a similar magnitude of emotion." Severus turned back to watch as the Dark Lord made to caress Bella's reflection in the mirror. As he touched the glass, the ripples broke the surface and she disappeared.

"What the past did not deem us, and what the present cannot afford, are given in gifts by the future," the Dark Lord said evenly.

In the mirror now came a fresh flash of scenes: cloaked figures swarming around faces that Severus identified unmistakably as those of Potter and Black, the steps of the Ministry overcome with the same cloaked figures, the Great Hall at Hogwarts full of more cloaked figures circling Dumbledore. The black figures disappeared and were replaced by Narcissa and Lucius, beaming proudly down into the sharp face of a small blonde boy. He saw himself in a similar situation looking down at a raven-haired bundle in Bella's arms. Then Lucius as Minister of Magic, and himself as Headmaster of Hogwarts. There were scenes of celebrations and holidays, as towheaded children and more with black hair ran through the halls of Malfoy Manor. He heard Lucius' rich laugh matching one that Severus recognized as his own. Then the scene slowly swirled gray and vanished in another series of ripples provoked by the Dark Lord's touch.

"I have been told," the Dark Lord said quietly, taking out his wand and vanishing the mirror from in front of Severus, "that you are a very promising student, with many talents and gifts--talents and gifts that could be put to good use to defend the honor that my ancestor, the great Salazar Slytherin, sought to preserve. A cause which commands the powers of the most noble pureblooded witches and wizards."

Severus dared not to look up into the face of the Dark Lord. He had a feeling that this was a time for abjection, not boldness.

The Dark Lord continued. "The world is open to us, Severus. It is a time of great change; even the Muggle papers have noticed. Even Merlin cannot deny the seeker of justice the power and the tenacity with which it must be sought. How is it that fools can turn the establishment against those whom it serves? No pureblood wizard should tolerate such blatant injustice. Join me, and we shall defy them martially, financially, and with certain success." The Dark Lord paused briefly, a controlled sneer playing at his lips. "I promise you nothing, but I offer up the world to you--in exchange for your service."

Severus had seen his past, understood his present, and knew that whatever his future held, it was in the hands of the wizard in front of him. Severus kneeled again, this time on both knees, and bowed his head to the cloaked figure. "I am beholden to you, my Lord."

The Dark Lord put one bony, cold finger under Severus' sharp chin, and raised it so that Severus had no choice but to lock eyes with him. Severus had the distinct impression of being held underwater: he was filled with an unholy panic as his breath left him. His eyes grew wide, looking into those of the Heir of Slytherin. They were long red tunnels, and Severus felt the world around him slowly sink away. The Dark Lord was searching his brain, his heart: he could feel darkness overtaking him. Water in his lungs. His left arm slowly raised. The Dark Lord wrapped a strong hand around the flesh of his forearm. A voice hissed, "Morsmordre!" somewhere in the very back of his brain. The world flashed white. All of his blood rushed cold, then exploded with heat. Severus heard a scream erupt from his throat, but before it escaped his lips, his mouth choked around it as everything closed in black.

* * * * *

Severus went to Malfoy Manor on Boxing Day, as he had in years previous. When Lucius opened the heavy mahogany door, which was hung with a holly wreath bedecked with softly hooting golden owls, Severus knew at once that everything was as it should be. "Lucius," Severus said curtly. He took no pains to warm his voice.

"Severus," Lucius said, nodding as he opened the door to let Severus enter. "Happy Christmas?"

"Quite," Severus replied shortly. He paused as Lucius closed the door behind them. They walked side by side past the drawing room to the parlor. Severus didn't bother to look at himself in the hallway mirror. He had dressed with calculated formality in high-collared black velvet dress robes and heavy dragon hide boots. He was here on business.

"A toast?" Lucius asked, raising a bottle to pour them each a drink.

"I'm afraid I have lost my taste for your scotch, Lucius," Severus said evenly. "I would rather fancy a red wine." He sat down with a flurry of robes in one of the red brocade chairs. Severus amusedly noted just how much Narcissa had been busying herself with redecorating.

Lucius raised an eyebrow, but complied with Severus' wishes. He poured himself a gin and tonic, setting aside the scotch. As he handed Severus his glass of Bordeaux, he said, "I am afraid I am at a loss as to whom to thank for the grace of your presence this holiday, Severus."

Severus sniffed the bouquet. Frankly, he had expected better. "I need admission to the Jagermeister Institute. Do you know it?"

If Lucius was caught off guard, Severus was not aware of it. "Yes, I have met several of the governors. I was not aware that you fancied further study in Potions."

Severus felt his upper lip twitch. There is much of which I am sure you are unaware, Severus thought, despite what Bellatrix might say. "I am pressed to find a suitable occupation." He paused to sip his wine, letting it mix with the venom on his tongue. "Unlike the Malfoys, the Snapes are not blessed with a Family Foundation to oversee. I must find something to make of my idleness--an outlet for my talents and gifts." Severus took another sip of his wine, searching Lucius for a sign that he understood the nature of his request.

Lucius' gray eyes flashed, and he raised an eyebrow. "I--that is to say, we--may have some friends with whom I can facilitate your admission," he said deliberately. Then he leaned close to Severus and whispered harshly, "Not a word to Narcissa. Her deniability must be preserved."

Severus smirked. "I am not in the habit of betraying secrets, Lucius." He then raised his glass. "To blood and money, Mr. Malfoy."

Lucius smirked in return. "To money and blood, Mr. Snape."

And they toasted to the future.

* * * * *

By Easter, Severus had received a post congratulating him on his acceptance to the Jagermeister Institute, an advanced two-year program in Potions that was meant to train its students in original research and testing methods anchored in a firm study of classical foundations. It was a highly reputable institution located in a secure location in the Harz Mountains in Germany. Severus had written to tell his father that his application had been accepted. But in truth, he had never formally applied. Lucius had sent a few letters, and Severus met some of the governors for dinner in early February.

Severus withdrew from Rosier and Wilkes in the last semester, under the pretense that he was busy preparing for N.E.W.T.s to secure his position at Jagermeister. However, Severus had just grown out of their pranks and ruses. Rosier and Wilkes for the most part kept to their own N.E.W.T.s, leaving Severus undisturbed in the Slytherin common room. The animosity between Severus and Potter, however, grew more intense that last term, despite Severus' withdrawal from all social situations. It was as if he sensed the change in Severus; as if somehow the Gryffindor gits had sniffed-out his lack of fear and increased their efforts.

Severus took some comfort in the fact that he was off to Germany for two years and Potter and Black would soon be dead.

* * * * *

On July fourth, Severus was awoken in the middle of the night by four pairs of hands closing around his person. His wand was wrestled from him, and then suddenly he was Apparated to the dark drawing room of Malfoy Manor. He stood blinking momentarily, observing that the four sets of hands belonged to four masked persons in black cloaks. Severus sneered before his face was covered by a black hood. He was forced down onto his knees and served with "Silencio!" He turned his head from side to side, but couldn't see a thing. He heard three more loud pops as others Apparated to the drawing room. The dying fire crackled softly. He sensed the presence of many wizards, and heard the shuffling of several pairs of feet. He stood very still, willing his senses to take in as much as possible. He was not afraid; this was a test, not torture. He heard the parlor doors open and close. Two sets of distinct and familiar footsteps made their way to the center of the drawing room. As they neared, his suspicions were confirmed: by the signature stroll, he recognized the master of the house, Lucius, and from the smell of mallowsweet, he knew that Bella was at his side. The gathering grew very silent as their last footfalls died before Severus and the others. He felt the person beside him rock slightly into his shoulder. He crossed his arms behind his back and waited.

"You are each here because you have been called into the service of the Dark Lord." Lucius.

"We are here to test your loyalty." Bella.

Severus was smirking under his hood. If Lucius and Bella were the ringleaders, he felt somewhat relieved. He could feel the fear rolling off of the person to his left. He mused if he knew the person. Surely, Lestrange and Avery were in the room, as well as Crabbe and Goyle, who had undoubtedly followed Lucius and Bella into this new vocation.

Suddenly, Severus was very aware that something had drastically changed in the atmosphere of the room. He felt a freezing coldness spread from his left forearm to his heart, and then to the rest of his body.

"Begin." Severus recognized that hiss with panic.

Four cries of "Crucio!" filled the room, and Severus felt his body explode with the most intense pain he had ever felt before in his life. It felt like his very blood was boiling. His unseeing eyes rolled into his head. He fell to the ground, and was immediately pummeled by the convulsing limbs of whoever the recruit next to him was. The others were thrashing about in pain, unable to cry out, but Severus would not allow himself. The others' stopped, but Severus' pain continued. He felt his lungs collapsing. He tried to raise his arms to his face to remove the hood, but his limbs were not responding. As his air was restricted, he began to panic. Impetuously, he tried to scream out, "ENOUGH!" And the pain stopped.

Severus slowly rolled so that he was lying on his back on the floor. His breath returned in shuddering gasps. He heard the staggered breathing of the others to his left. He wanted to remove the hood, but his arms would not move. Severus was sure every part of his being had atrophied in that pain. Perhaps he was wrong in his hope that Lucius and Bella would go easy on him. And perhaps he was wrong about that torture bit as well.

"Very good," the Dark Lord hissed. "Now that they've had a sampling, take them down."

Severus tried to make sense of that. Down? There was no "down" to Malfoy Manor that Severus had ever known. Hands were on him again, raising him. He heard what sounded like sliding stone. Like something had been opened. Then he was pushed, but falling forward, he did not hit the floor. Instead, he fell right through it.

For hours, maybe days, Severus had the Cruciatus Curse put on him by several different wands. The silencing charms had been lifted, however, and the curse would be applied and not lifted until he cried out. He could hear the cries of his fellow recruits, but soon they mingled with his own, and he could not tell them apart. Instead of developing a resistance to the curse, Severus found that he was cracking sooner and the pain was becoming more intense. He was sure he recognized the voices of some of the members of the Slytherin Dueling Club, including Lucius and Bella, administering the curses, but he did not trust himself with such assertions. He was aware that the rational functions of his mind were taking stranger and more frequent turns under the care of his comrades.

Finally, as the curse was lifted after countless attacks, Severus felt a cold hand close around the top of his head. He was hoping for death as an escape from this torture, but instead, his hood was lifted.

Severus blinked wildly. The person who had lifted the hood was holding a lit wand above their heads. The face of the figure was backlit, so Severus could not tell if he or she was still wearing a mask. The cold hand swooped down again, this time closing in a fist around the chest of his robes and pulling him to his feet. Severus was not sure he could walk. "What now?" he muttered wearily.

"Now, we sup." The voice was feminine.

"Bella?" Severus whispered hoarsely. His voice was ragged from his screams.

The voice chuckled briefly, then said darkly, "You have not yet earned the right to address me in such a familiar tone, recruit." Severus was sure it was her, but he knew better than to push his luck. She reached into her robes and withdrew a black mask, which she threw at Severus.

He unfolded it, turned it over in his hands, then looked imploringly at the figure before him. Part of him wanted to ask if they were to be dining with executioners, but the other, more stable part of him told the other part to keep his stupid mouth shut. So he merely peered into the shadowed face.

She nodded in the direction of a stone frame door. As his eyes adjusted, Severus began to recognize his location as being in a dungeon that he had never known existed beneath Malfoy Manor. Standing in the door were two masked guards, who entered the room, took either of Severus' arms, and dragged him out of the dungeon.

At a low table in a stone room down a long stone hallway, Severus ate dinner with the recruits whose screams had been mingling countless hours with his own. Their drawn faces around the long wooden table he recognized from his time at Hogwarts: Rosier, Wilkes, and a boy who had been in Ravenclaw named Travers. Despite their past familiarity, they remained absolutely silent throughout their meal. He had a feeling he would have to get used to it.

After that first round of "Crucio!" Severus and the rest of the recruits were submitted to other "tests." He was put under "Imperio!" countless times, but was able to break it easily, as he had studied that under Professor Meadowes during his last years at Hogwarts. Then they were subjected to hours of dueling practice and hours more of serving the other Death Eaters. Severus knew that the point of the exercise was to break him, so he allowed himself to be broken. After that, Severus and the others went with them on tasks. They were organized into groups of four: recruits mingling with veterans. Each member of the group was given specific duties, depending on what their mission entailed. However, the leader of the group was always one who was highly skilled in the use of "Imperius," as a precaution in case something were to go awry. Severus was assured that the "hits," as they referred to them, were highly selective, researched, and planned down to the second. "Four seconds to Apparate in, twelve seconds to secure the location, fifteen seconds to locate the targets, another twenty or so to complete the directives, and then another four back to Headquarters and to the next position."

His first night out, Severus' group set fire to several Muggle buildings in Wales, and then unceremoniously tortured a wizard and his wife in Edinburgh, who, as it was explained, were financial backers in Crouch's campaign for Minister of Magic. They Apparated to several different locations each night, wreaking havoc, then throwing the Dark Mark into the sky above the scenes of destruction. Once out, they all wore their masks and heavy black cloaks, on the off-chance that they would be spotted by someone who would be alive in the morning to give an account. But several of the wizards Severus worked with he came to know by their mannerisms. There was one wizard who insisted that all of them go into a house, while another insisted that one stay outside as a lookout. One wizard he worked with insisted on locking every door of a house they attacked, whistling the entire time. Another performed body-binds on the children so that they could watch their parents tortured and then killed. "It'll teach them a lesson," he said. A wizard whom Severus only worked with once placed silver sickles over the eyes of the victims before leaving. For the most part, they acted so quickly that no one saw them at all. They were ghosts. They were spirits. They were shadows.

* * * * *

After nearly two months working as a member of a hit squad out of the Malfoy dungeons, Germany was, in Severus' opinion, the most boring and unentertaining place in the world. Severus went to school begrudgingly. While he attended, he was under strict orders from the Dark Lord to seek the company of no one and to cease all correspondence, except for a few characteristically cryptic letters sent by Lucius as a delegate for the Death Eaters. He was to focus his attentions entirely on his studies, for the Dark Lord had plans for young Severus Snape.