Chapter 3 - Mistake
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A single touch was all it took.
In a jarring jolt of whizzing whirls and dizzying turns, Severus found himself transported out of his chambers and whisked away to Malfoy Manor’s impressive foyer.
He had spent more than a bit of time in that grand house during the years that had composed his friendship with both Lucius and Narcissa.
More disoriented than he would have been from regular apparition, Severus gasped for breath as he raised his eyes to meet Lucius’s gray stare while they both took a stumbling step.
“Come.” Lucius chuckled darkly, “I expect he’ll be in the dining room. It’s one of his favourite places to hold meetings.”
Severus shuddered at the unseasonal chill that drifted through the manor before he followed Lucius down the hallway.
As he walked, he tried to slow his racing heart.
The stories about the Dark Lord’s terrifying talents had already become legendary.
Severus was well aware that the master of the Dark Arts would be able to sense his racing pulse with ease.
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As they stood outside the heavy doors that enclosed the Malfoys’ dining room, Severus noticed a slight tremble in his friend's hand as Lucius raised it to knock against the dark wood.
A noise between a grunt and a hiss came from inside.
“My lord,” Lucius began as he cleared his throat and called out, “I’ve brought someone to meet you……Severus Snape. The newest Potions Master at Hogwarts?”
Severus narrowed his dark eyes as the lock on the doors clicked before they slowly swung open.
With his chin held high, Lucius sauntered into the room while Severus trailed behind him, his black robes sweeping across the elegant, polished floor.
Severus couldn’t help but stare as they came across the table and his eyes finally fell on the most dangerous wizard in magical Britain.
His mouth fell open as he gazed upon Voldemort for the very first time.
Shrouded in tattered, dark cloth that appeared to be more rags than robes, Voldemort himself was pale, tall, and slender.
The blurred features of his face and lack of hair would have almost inspired pity if his eyes hadn’t been blood red, with serpentine, black pupils staring eagerly back at Severus.
Lucius paid his dark master’s austere appearance no mind as he sat down in a nearby chair and gestured for Severus to do the same.
“Severus Snape……” Voldemort enunciated slowly, his voice smooth and persuasive, but not without the reminiscent hiss of some preying snake, “At last…….we meet….face to face.”
Lucius threw Severus a cautionary glare before Severus forced himself to find words, “......It is an honour, my lord…..to be in your presence at last. I have heard of your many exploits and impressive abilities.”
Voldemort chuckled as his thin lips pulled back to reveal shark-like teeth, jagged and unnaturally white.
“It is I who have heard about you….and all the many things you can do, Severus Snape….Remarkable for someone so young.” Voldemort smirked.
“Thank you, my lord.” Severus nodded as Lucius took a deep breath.
“Your friend, Lucius,” Voldemort said as he raised a hand and gestured towards his host, “....Speaks of you often.”
Severus couldn’t help but notice the long, sharp nails on each of Voldemort’s tapered, gray fingers.
“I have great need for someone like you, Severus Snape.” Voldemort smirked, “And in return, I can offer you…..anything…..Everything. Name your price and I will pay it.”
Severus did not know what to say in response.
Since he had learned the delicate art, he had always prided himself on his use of Occlumency, but every second spent in Voldemort’s presence proved to be a test of his skills.
As Severus tried to keep up his facade of feigned politeness, it was all he could do to hold up that mental shield against the unignorable prying that Voldemort’s silent, punishing attempt at Legilimency imposed.
Severus eventually forced his jaws to move, “Thank you, my lord, but I-“
“Am no one desperate to be someone, aren’t you, Severus Snape?” Voldemort sneered.
Severus frowned.
“You are nothing. No one of any importance, born and raised in abject poverty, the bane of your father’s existence, a shoulder for your mother to cry on…..Rejected and spurned, lonely and outcast, settled in for a life of mediocrity attempting to teach school children how to brew Sleeping Draught.” Voldemort chuckled.
Severus’s frown deepened as he found himself incapable of doing anything but enduring Voldemort’s speech.
“I can change…..all of that, Severus.” Voldemort grinned, “I can make you into someone, into something. I can bring you wealth, admiration, respect, accomplishment. Omegas will desire you, alphas will long to be you…..I can give you everything, Severus Snape, if you will only pledge your undying loyalty…….to me.”
Despite his many magical skills, Severus was not above succumbing to talents far above his own.
Voldemort’s sweet speech had hypnotized him.
Although already deformed, the Dark Lord remained a persuasive and charismatic presence, the perfect predator for a lost, lonely boy.
“What must I do?” Severus asked, half to himself.
“”Expose your arm, Severus Snape.” Voldemort laughed darkly as he reached into the pocket of his robes and slipped a long, pointed, white wand into his hands, “.......Take my mark and then I will be bound to aid you in your journey, all for the exchange of a few, simple favours.”
Severus bought the lie that was too good to be true, entranced by visions of his own future grandeur and the honey-like dream of having Lily on his arm.
Once he exposed his pale flesh to Voldemort’s sight, a screaming curse left the Dark Lord’s lips before a brilliant flash of red exploded from the tip of his white wand.
As that hideous mark was carved into his skin, Severus let out an inhuman scream.
It was as if the nerves activated by the Dark Lord’s painful curse extended all the way into Severus’s wounded soul.
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Alone in her room, on the second floor of her childhood home, Lily sighed to herself as she sat on her bed and read over Severus’s letters.
A bitter smile graced her lips while she closed her eyes and thought.
It had disappointed her that he had not arranged a meeting between them the entire summer.
Lily chided herself for being impatient, Severus had always been comfortable on his own.
She frowned as she read the lines he had written for the hundredth time.
Was she deluding herself?
There had been no flirtation, no hidden meanings, no eloquently laid innuendos in his many writings.
Lily sighed as she folded each letter, stood from her bed, and placed them into her desk drawer.
It was rather a waste of her time to loaf about and dream silly dreams that could never come true.
She had spent years convincing herself of a lie, it was time to accept that.
Severus Snape saw her as a friend, nothing more.
As she climbed into bed, reached over and turned off the electric lamp that stood on her nightstand, she closed her eyes and forced the visions of Severus’s face from her mind.
James Potter had not been the right one for her, but the alpha she loved had never even seen her for what she could become.