Slapdash

Slapdash

By OldThornBecker

Chapter One

* * * * *

As the lamps began to burn, lighting the chamber to a full glare, Severus Snape found himself instinctively opening his eyes to the blinding glow that seemed to emanate from the ceiling. He winced and turned to face away from the light, then felt something hard on his neck.

He glanced around, finding himself in the center of a large stone cell. Ropes wound themselves around his wrists, binding him to an uncomfortable metal chair. His ankles were fastened to the chair by restraints. He tried to cry out, but felt something sticky covering his lips. His mouth felt like it had been sealed shut.

Dizzy, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. It felt clammy, and he suspected that it was bleeding where he hit it on the floor. He took in a breath of the air around him, and nearly choked. The air in his cell was cold and damp, and smelled strongly of Irish Firewhiskey, ginger and stale vomit. The silence filled the cell as thickly as the blazing torchlight.

Suddenly, he heard a voice. A shrill, sharp and menacing voice that cut through the silence, causing him to jump in his seat, a muffled cry barely escaping his throat. His eyes rolled around rapidly in their sockets, the panic rising within him until he suppressed it, reminding himself to stay calm.

Finally, he looked forward, and found himself staring at a tall, old man in between the eyes. He was clad in traditional Death-Eater robes, and the hood of his cloak was thrown back to reveal an ugly, pointed face with a pale yellow pallor, slightly darkened by stubble around his chin. His bold, bloodshot eyes were fierce and menacing. As he brought his eyes to meet the darkened features of the other man, his lips softly formed his name.

Without warning, the man bent over him, the fetid stench of his breath filling Snape's nostrils. He tried to bend his head backwards, but before he could, with a quick, sudden motion, he tore away the piece of duct tape covering Snape's mouth.

Snape yelped from the pain, drawing in a deep breath, and winced. As the burning pain over his lips subsided, he gasped, drawing in another breath between his teeth. The man stood towering above him, arms crossed, a defiant glare dominating the features of his face.

"Who do you think you are?" he whispered, bringing his face closer to Snape's, "do you really think that you could have leaked information to Dumbledore without him knowing? You know as well as I do that the Dark Lord has eyes and ears everywhere. He knows, Snape." He smirked mischievously at Snape's horrified expression. "He knows. Oh, how I imagine he will crush your feeble body..."

Snape turned his head, and spat at the other man's shoe, then glared at him with all the hate and fury he could gather.

"You should never have betrayed us, Snape. You should never have turned on us, you stupid little fag. And now, you must pay the price for your treachery..."

The other man bent over him again, this time putting his mouth to the side of his face. Snape felt a fuzzy feeling migrating through his body from his head, and was paralyzed. He tried to shake, but to no avail. He was completely frozen.

The other man moved his head, and cupped Snape's right earlobe with his lips. Snape felt his tongue glide over the soft flesh, and an almost imperceptible shiver pass through his body.

When he finally broke contact with Snape's ear, the paralysis that had enveloped him was released, and he shuddered. The man's face was still on his, and he tested his jaw, feeling it move slightly.

He then took the other man's chin in his teeth, and bit through it, summoning all the force in his body. He felt the man's body jerk under the pain, and a startled cry being uttered. He jumped off him immediately, cupping his bleeding face with his hands.

"Bastard," he hissed, after taking out his wand and healing his chin, "Never try that again. Hear?"

He obviously wasn't expecting an answer, since before Snape could answer, he delivered a sharp blow to his face. Snape heard a crack! as his nose broke, and toppled over sideways on his chair.

The pain was intense, and rippled through his whole body. He automatically shut his eyes to the pain, and clenched his jaw, waiting for it to subside.

When he opened his eyes, it was what he saw on the wall of the chamber that startled him. He hadn't noticed it before because of the restraints on his neck, but it was the number, '101,' that seemed to be sprayed on the wall in blood-red paint...or what Snape desperately hoped was only paint. He felt the bile rising in his stomach, then retched. As he turned his head slightly, he saw the man wrinkle his face in disgust, then felt himself being jerked upright, bound fast to the chair.

Snape turned his head so that he could see the door, his neck beginning to hurt because of the restraint. He felt shock wave through him as he found himself looking at the creature directly in the eyes. He shrieked, then felt a familiar wave ripple through his body, snaking through his veins.

Still, he found himself still gazing at the monster that stood by the door as it approached on the Death Eater's prompt. He felt his neck throb, his breath escaping from his lungs and the air around him getting colder, making him shiver under his restraints.

"I can make you lick it up, you know!" he heard him snarl, and his vision began to blur. He broke out into a cold sweat, and toppled backwards on his chair, falling through the floor.

* * * * *

Snape woke up in the dungeon, and mindlessly fingered the painful spot on the back of his head where he must have hit it on the flags. He got to his feet nervously and glanced around the cell. It was completely empty, and he noticed that he was no longer bound to the chair that lay upturned on the floor beside him.

Then he heard it.

The sound of a woman shrieking: a horrible, terrible, awful noise that seemed to emanate from one of the adjacent cells. He quickly glanced to the side of the cell where he remembered the door to have been...

It was open.

Feeling a surge of adrenaline jolt through him, he ran as fast as he could across the cell, and escaped through the open door.

As he ran, he heard the sound of the woman's screams getting louder, then finally slipped on the cold flagstones and put his hand out to the wall, to stop himself from tripping.

As he lifted his head up to the doorway that stood before him, he met his eyes with a sickening sight: It was not a woman, but a girl. She was stripped of her robes and cowered, shivering on the cold stone floor, by a dementor who had its hood thrown back, to reveal its head. It was the first time that Snape had ever seen a dementor's face, but it made him shudder. It had a bony, hairless scalp and two eyes glowing red that seemed to be frozen in their place. Its face seemed to be made of rotting flesh, and its teeth were bared into a mischievous, purely wicked grin. The girl didn’t seem to take any notice of Snape, who stood by the door, frozen on the spot.

The dementor crouched down, and brought its face to her head, clutching it with its two rotting hands.

Snape couldn't bear it any longer. He turned on his heel and fled, running through the corridors, desperately seeking to find a way out.

* * * * *

Snape woke in his cell, still bound to his chair. He made no sound as he opened his eyes to the thick darkness that surrounded him.

The dementor occupied the corner of the cell; Snape could feel its presence. He shuddered, thinking of how it stimulated the sorrow inside him.

He felt his chest hitch twice, then couldn't contain it any longer, and bowed his head, allowing the sobs to freely stain his face.

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To be continued...