Dementor's Kiss

Prologue

"When I'm walking a dark road I am a man who walks alone." -Steve Harris

---

Crouching in pain, Severus Snape raised his wounded head and looked at Voldemort with all his remaining energy. "My Lord ..."

Voldemort glared balefully at the shattered image of a man he once trusted; his red eyes were filled with anger and contempt with a faint throbbing of disappointment deep inside. The Death Eaters he'd summoned to watch the scene huddled together in anticipation to watch what would be the last straw for the traitor to the Dark Lord, Snape.

The Dark Lord smirked and hissed with slight curiosity, "My dear Severus, why did you turn against me after all that I've done for you?"

Snape opened his mouth to say something, but the last of his energy had been used up and he felt himself slipping into the welcoming darkness. But Voldemort was having none of that. With a spur he waved his wand and hissed "Aquakinatus!" A bucket of ice-cold water was poured onto Snape rousing him again to the world of the living.

"So tell me, Severus, when did you became a traitor to our side?"

"M-mm-y Lo-r-d... Pl-e-aase kii-l ... m ..."

At this, Voldemort broke into a vicious laugh which reached a crescendo and shook the walls of his indestructible castle. "Can't take it anymore, Severus? Are you praying for Avada Kedavra to end your petty life? Tut, tut, Severus, you should know better. The Dark Lord doth not kill his most able traitor who's managed to keep his Lord in the dark for sixteen years with the Unforgivable typical of a common Death Eater. What's the pleasure in that? No, Severus, I have much better plans for you."

As the Death Eaters murmured the capabilities of the Dark Lord, Snape smiled inwardly to himself.

I knew, from the first day I joined Dumbledore's forces, that if I were found out to be a traitor to Voldemort I would not simply die under Avada Kedavra. No, that would be asking for too much mercy. Surely the Dark Lord could think of a way to make me suffer and ridicule myself. A Dementor's Kiss perhaps?

"I see you haven't lost your cunning," Voldemort chuckled. Dammit, he thought, I've my Occulmency wards down. "After all, you weren't in my inner circle for nothing. I saw your potential from the first time I laid eyes on you, Severus. I gave you the power and the status. You had the potential to become the Dark Prince and before long you got that treatment. Do you know how many of our little family would have given anything for that?"

At that, many Death Eaters nodded in agreement. Voldemort smirked at them and continued. "At the end of the day, the Muggles and the whole wizarding community would have kneeled before you and me and would have kissed your cursed feet! Yet, you chose to become a traitor and become a spy for that Muggle-loving ... Dumbledore! The sworn enemy of my very existence! What did you ever gain from him, eh, Severus? He never treated you like his son, never like me! He would never have let you become a Prince of the Light! All you would ever be was a despised traitor and the Ministry could have locked you up at any time were it not for Dumbledore's need of you."

Voldemort smiled now. "Yes, Severus, you chose him instead of me. That broke my heart. But where is he now? Where is the brave Gryffindor now that you are dying in my hands? I don't see his Order coming to rescue you. You should have known that, Severus. Albus Dumbledore doesn't give second chances. A Death Eater will always be a Death Eater and the same goes for a traitor to him and his pathetic Order." He spat out Order as though the word was cursed. Again, his followers nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

"N-n-no ... A..l..bu..ss. He-e... WILL c..c..come!"

"Tut, tut, Severus, all the years in the Light has made you soft. Dumbledore and his pitiful Order will never find this place. And even if they do, they would never be able to break the down the wards on this castle. You know that, so spare your breath."

Voldemort smiled sadly. "Severus, you shouldn't have betrayed me. I was the only one that ever cared for you. You were like a son to me. Albus Dumbledore treats you like the last wreck because he never gives second chances to people from the dark side, as he didn't give me one. But you should know..." he paused, and looking at his expectant Death Eaters and the battered Snape, paused for effect and then declared, "..the Dark Lord is different."

---