EXPOSED
After a couple hundred trials later she did it. She siphoned the dark blue murky liquid into a small vial, capped it, put a sealing charm on it for extra protection, and put it in her pocket.
This time Sirius and Mary were here and Vera just sent them a wave before heading out.
She told everyone about her supposed internship with Madam Pomfrey and experienced significantly less questioning whenever she left. She explained how Pomfrey approached her with the internship and how she hoped to someday get to work at St. Mungos but she wanted more background knowledge first. It appeased everyone and James was happy she found something she enjoyed. If only he knew.
She apparated away to Knockturn and strolled up the street to the apothecary, dodging puddles of suspicious liquids and sending nasty looks to men who stared at her a bit too long.
The door creaked again and she headed inside.
Snape was straight ahead towards the back of the shop and she strode over to him, confident in her work.
“How does it feel?” she asked.
“How does what feel?” he asked, lip curled.
“Being wrong. I wouldn’t know of course” she chirped.
“You didn’t” he said, tone disbelieving.
“Oh I did,” she said, pulling the vial out of her pocket.
He snatched it out of her hands and held it up, seeing its color and consistency.
“You have to test it.”
She walked around and found a simple leafy plant and shrugged, “I’ll buy it.”
He dumped the vial into the pot and the plant instantly drooped, changing colors from a bright green to a dull brown. It could only be cured with an anecdote potion and would remain a shriveled brown until then, not dead- just on stasis.
“How? I’ve been trying to brew that for years” he opened up and was unable to hide his awe.
“You can ask me for the answer if you ever win a bet” she raised an eyebrow to which he just stared at her.
“There’s so much I could ask, where to even begin?” she put her finger to her chin and pretended to be in deep thought as if she hadn’t been obsessing over it the night before.
They stood in silence while she pretended to think of something.
“What do you like to do in your free time?”
A pause. “What?” He looked at her incredulously.
“You know, like hobbies. What do you like to do?” she asked genuinely.
“Why do you care?” He was incredibly suspicious of her.
“Well, I don’t know anything about you, I wanted to get to know you.”
Really, Vera just wanted to get a feel for Snape. To her knowledge, he hadn’t had a job yet or trained in anything specifically which was especially odd for Snape who she knew to be intelligent. She also knew he was an outcast and didn’t really have friends. He was a death eater, obviously, but she wanted to start slow, ease into it.
“Reading” was all he said.
“Would you look at that, I like to read too” she smiled. “What’s your favorite book?”
He didn’t deign to answer so she just moved on.
“You know what, I took the liberty of writing down what I did,” she took a roll of parchment out from her pockets and handed it to Snape.
He rolled the scroll open and scanned the page quickly, she could practically see the gears in his head turn. His eyes widened as he seemed to have caught some mistake that he made previously in the brew and pocketed it.
“How did you know what to do?”
“I might’ve played around with the recipe a tinge.”
“But-”
“Happy accidents Snape.”
They stood just staring at each other in an awkward silence.
“You know…you could ask me what I like to do in my free time”
“But I don’t care,” he said matter-of-factly.
“You just reminded me why I don’t like you” she huffed and turned around, grabbing a basket and continuing. She bought more ingredients and brewed more dark potions- dementor’s fallacy, drink of despair, the list goes on and each week he showed up, increasingly shocked in her ability to actually brew potions.
“You really ought to stop being so surprised” she told him after handing him vials of her most recent concoction.
“What’s your burning question this time?” he drawled.
“What do you want to do in the future?”
It was a more thoughtful one that she had asked before. Her other questions were random- what his favorite subject was in Hogwarts? Favorite potion to brew? They were easy throwaways but it kept Snape coming back and it lowered his walls each time which was exactly what she wanted.
It was clear Snape was not expecting her to ask that when his eyes widened a fraction and he paused, not rolling his eyes exasperatedly like usual.
“I’m not sure,” he said honestly and she was surprised.
“Really?”
“Maybe something Potions related.”
“See now we’re getting somewhere. But it’s a bit ironic since I’m clearly better than you.”
He just rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed. “What about you?” he asked and Vera was astonished.
He had never once asked the question in return.
“I…don’t know. I never really decided.”
“I’m surprised you’re not off fighting crime like the rest of your pack.”
“I’d have to agree with them to fight with them,” she baited.
He arched an eyebrow, “You don’t agree?”
“Honestly, no. With everything going on…they live in a fantasy, they think they have the power to change the war with all things light and good but it’s just not possible and frankly…I don’t agree with their message either. Voldemort just believes in wizard supremacy, I don’t see the problem with that, I- sorry, I shouldn’t have said all that” she rushed out the last part.
Snape was sufficiently intrigued and she knew she had him.
“No, I completely agree,” he smirked. “It’s very…rewarding, working for him.”
“You really work for him?” she said, wide-eyed as if she didn’t already know.
“See you next week” was all he said before turning away.
That was also the first time he’d verbally acknowledged their little agreement.
_______
Vera had to admit she was feeling very proud of herself with the Bone Crunching potion that currently rested in her inner pocket.
The bright red potion took almost the entirety of the week to brew and even then she had to expedite the instructions, she just hoped it worked or else she would have bought a very illegal jar of fairy bones for nothing.
She waited in the store for an hour past their usual time and Snape still hadn’t shown up. One hour turned into two and she still paced the aisles. The store owner didn’t even notice she was there as she sat on a chair tucked into a corner, impatiently tapping her foot.
Maybe Snape got tired of answering questions since Vera kept brewing the potions correctly.
Vera left after hour three, annoyed.
_______
She received a letter soon thereafter
Potter,
I had other matters to attend to.
7 Windcot Dr.
Scotland.
Saturday. 8PM.
S. Snape.
Would it really kill him to use just a few more words? She also wondered what exactly the address was and figured it must be his home.
The road ahead was still horribly blurry and she just went along with the motions, hoping it would become clear along the way.
_________
On Saturday evening, the house was blissfully empty so Vera was able to apparate to the address Severus listed easily. She arrived outside of a small dark cottage set within a set of rolling hills. The sky was overcast setting the world in shades of grey but yellow light seeped out of the windows and smoke pumped out of the chimney, creating an inviting image that Vera walked towards.
She knocked twice before Snape opened the door and allowed her in.
He didn’t say anything before walking further into the house so Vera shut the door herself. His sitting room was nice, leather sofas that were well-lived in as shown through the various lumps in the cushions and there were bookshelves lining the walls that were covered in books. The fire roared in the hearth making the small room almost uncomfortably warm. However, Snape just brushed past the room and any niceties and went down a hallway into a room on the right.
It appeared to be a Potions lab and Snape stood over a potion that was currently simmering.
“You didn’t come” she stated matter of factly.
“No. I had another matter to attend to” he stated.
“I brewed the Bone crunching potion.” She pulled the vial out of her pocket and Snape looked at it in surprise. He then just placed it down on the table next to him and continued stirring the potion, completely uninterested. He seemed to be building up to a response and Vera allowed him to.
“I’m sure you are aware of my allegiances in this war…” he trailed off, suddenly switching topics.
“Yes.”
“I had a meeting with the Dark Lord and he would like to meet you. Tomorrow night.”
If Snape had offered her tea she would’ve spit it out. She figured Snape brought her here maybe to poison her, just a little, not offer her everything she needed on a silver platter.
She suddenly felt horribly unprepared for this. She was going to meet the Dark Lord. Tomorrow?
“You spoke to him about me?” she wondered, trying to calm her tone.
“You were mentioned, yes.”
“I look forward to it” she smiled, hoping it didn’t come out like a grimace.
He just looked at her from the side of his eye before going back to stirring the potion.
“What is it?”
He wasn't usually so fidgety or unsure.
“I am concerned. For you.” Frankly, she wasn’t sure Snape even had emotions so this blindsided her.
“Why?”
He suddenly stopped stirring and looked at her. His eyes switched between hers as if trying to work something out.
“If you have any allegiance to the light, this is the time to turn around.” His tone was grave and it caused Vera’s spine to lace with dread.
“I don’t. I’m thankful for this opportunity to prove myself” she spoke, infusing steel into her words.
He moved quicker than she anticipated and put his wand to her forehead and spat Legilimens!
She immediately put all her walls up and Snape scrambled. He fired like an arrow at each and every brick and tried to snake his way through the cracks. At every turn he was met with steel and he was forced to reroute and try again.
She forced him out and grabbed his hand, twisting it down, causing his arm to contort uncomfortably.
“How dare you?” she spat, suddenly letting his arm go with a jerk.
“The Dark Lord is an expert Legilimens, I wanted to know if you knew Occlumency. You did well.” he stated, turning away again.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? You had no right.”
“I had to catch you off guard” he said, as if obvious.
“If you ever touch me again, I will not hesitate to fucking end you” she swore.
“It was for your own good.”
“If that’s your way of trying to say you care then you’re wrong. Maybe that’s why Lily didn’t-”
Snape cut her off before she could even finish her words.
“Here. Tomorrow. 9PM. Now get out.”
She slammed the door on her way out and apparated away.
Sucha fucking arsehole.
He had no right to violate her like that no matter if he gave her the in she had been looking for.
When she got back home, James was sitting on the sofa with Leo, petting his orange fur delicately.
“Vera! Where’ve you been?”
“With Pomfrey again” she huffed before settling down next to him. “You?”
“Patrols again.”
“Anything exciting?” Leo got up and hopped from James side onto her lap and she scratched behind his ear as he settled in, closing his eyes.
“There was a raid on a nearby Muggle village. Two people, a couple, died. They got away before we could get them.”
She looked at him and saw how tired he looked. His eyes didn’t have their usual spark and he seemed dull. It broke her heart to see him this way.
“I’m sorry” she whispered.
“Vera I know you want to get involved but when I see people like that I can’t help but think about you like that. If you got hurt I don’t know what I’d do with myself. I don’t want to lose anyone but if I could just protect you I’d be okay,” he looked at her with large hazel eyes and she melted into them, feeling horribly guilty.
“Hey, nothing will happen,” she said, putting her hand on his. “I don’t like the idea of you getting involved either. Everytime you or Sirius or Remus leave, I just get so scared none of you will come back” she said honestly.
“You know at first we all thought it’d be great to join the Order. Dumbledore offered so of course we all took him up on it but now…we’re just kids Vera and I don’t know what the future will look like.”
She hugged him then.
“We’ll make it. We all will” she said into his ear to which he nodded.
________
She arrived in a small receiving room . There were small sconces on the wall that were lit with an eerie yellow glow and the house was silent. There were some chairs in the room and paintings on the wall but it all looked untouched. A sharp contrast to their own receiving area that was full of junk that her friends like to dump on their way in and pick up on their way out.
Snape arrived a moment later.
There was the sound of sharp heels clicking on the floor that slowly got louder with each step.
A woman appeared in the doorway. She was a short spindly woman- resembling a spider in many ways from her black eyes to her wide stretched mouth that revealed rows of sharpened teeth. Her hair fell down her back in wild curls and she realized who the woman of this manor was.
“Bellatrix” Snape nodded.
“Severus,” she replied. “And is this our lord’s guest for the night?”
“Yes.”
“Potter. Vera Potter” she introduced herself.
“Is baby Potter lost?” Bellatrix smiled at her. Vera almost expected a forked tongue to snake past her straight teeth for her words were dripping with venom. She wondered if she would remember her as they were briefly at Hogwarts for the same time and it seemed she did.
“I rather think I’ve found myself actually” Vera said.
Bellatrix smiled and guided them deeper into the house.
“The dark Lord does not like to be kept waiting” she chided and opened a set of doors to a dining room.
The room was opulent. Candelabras lined the walls with various paintings and tapestries among them. The walls were a dark grey and the long table that stretched the length of the room was so rich in color it bordered on black with high backed chairs lining the sides.
However the figure at the head of the table was the center of attention.
Voldemort.
He was a tall man with a lithe figure hidden under a mass of black robes that hung loosely off his shoulders and flowed down to the floor. He sat with unnatural grace that contrasted grotesquely with his appearance. His skin looked like milky porcelain and he didn’t have any hair on his head or face. His eyes were bloodshot and his teeth were grey as he pulled his thin lips back and bared them in a semblance of a smile.
He looked like he may have once been attractive, high cheekbones and a strong nose breaking through the skin that stretched tight over his face but he looked more like a humanoid, on his way to some other life form than a human like her or Severus.
“Severus,” he smiled.
“My lord,” he replied, head bowed.
She mimicked him, making sure her chin hit her clavicle but biting her tongue.
“Miss Potter”
She lifted her chin then but didn’t look him in the eyes yet, keeping her gaze lowered she said, “My Lord.”
“Sit please” to which they did.
“Severus tells me you have shown an interest in the cause,” he said.
“Yes my Lord.”
“It is my understanding that the Potters are blood traitors, why the change of heart child?”
The word made her skin crawl.
“I admit I was blinded in my youth. I followed them blindly for years but I have come to realize that their beliefs are against the natural order of things…I can’t bring myself to follow them in good conscience.”
She tried to make the words sound as natural as possible and not like she rehearsed this last night.
“It takes some longer than others, it is understandable” he acquiesced.
“I take it your family is unaware of your whereabouts?”
“No sir and I do not intend to tell them. I believe they are too far gone to understand what is right. Dumbledore has thoroughly brainwashed them.”
“That is unfortunate. But no matter, I am here to speak with you. I see you have a talent for Potions?”
“I try” she lowered her head to try and convey humility.
“I saw it for myself in Severus’ memories”- a pointed statement.
She looked up at Severus across from her who didn’t react though she suspected he didn’t very much like that being revealed. He hadn’t mentioned that part to her.
“You need not humble yourself here. I came here myself for a reason, I believe you are powerful.”
She didn’t buy it for a second but she could see how a weak-minded individual could fall for his pretty words. He had the power to make even the smallest of creatures feel seen with his piercing gaze.
“You flatter me my Lord.”
“How about a test, just to test my hypothesis?” he suggested lightly.
He stood and everyone else followed suit.
“Bellatrix, if you will,” he gestured to the table.
In an instant she vanished from the table and the room suddenly felt much bigger, cleared of furniture. She had to wipe her hands on her outer coat to get the sweat off of them. She felt her blood run cold and dread seep down her spine- she wasn’t expecting a test. What would that even consist of?
“How knowledgeable are you in the Dark Arts?”
“I am a bit...behind as I haven’t had sufficient resources but I’m a quick study” she offered.
He hummed, “A minor inconvenience but that can be resolved.”
He walked to the back wall and leaned against it before speaking again.
“I’d like to see you duel” he gestured between her and Snape.
She looked at Snape in surprise and he showed no emotion at all. He just pulled his wand out of his pocket, instantly obeying.
“I-”
“Begin.” He cut her off.
Snape shot a hex by her ear and she instantly whipped her wand out of her sleeve.
“Stupefy!” She shot out but it was easily pushed aside by Snape.
He shot again at her and she dodged it with a Protego!
He fired a red spell that spewed from his wand like fire and it hit the wall behind her with a boom as she spun away from it.
They fired back and forth, Snape using vicious spells that she knew would seriously injure her but he had not yet managed to touch her. Suddenly he wordlessly slashed his wand and he sliced her forearm. It burned and she could smell her flesh as it ribboned at the edges of the wound.
Fine.
“Ignis Scalpere!” she yelled and a stream of orange barreled into Snapes leg and it brushed his thigh and he grit his teeth in pain.
Again, he shot, she defended and vice versa. The smell of sulfur filled the air as their spells increased in intensity and strayed further away from light.
She could see sweat bead on his brow and she intended to end this soon, playing with him to tire him out.
It came to a close when she shouted “Tacet Frigidus!” and compounded a “Levicorpus!” with him, rendering Snape frozen and suspended in air.
She was heaving by the end of it and when she looked over at Voldemort and Bellatrix, she knew they were pleased.
Bellatrix let out a cackle and Voldemort only smiled cruelly.
“It seems you underestimate yourself” was his only comment.
Voldemort looked at Snape and in an instant he dropped to the floor.
Vera flinched at the thud, not expecting him to cancel out her spells.
Snape just slowly stood, his face revealing nothing.
Voldemort approached her slowly and she felt herself stiffen.
He reached a hand out and grabbed her wrist, his long grey fingers curling around her wrist. He pulled his wand out and she didn’t dare flinch as he held it over her arm.
He healed her arm.
His magic felt uncomfortable as he covered her wound but it was healed, though it wasn’t neat and she knew it would leave a scar. Dark magic never escapes without leaving a trace.
She got ready to pull her arm away but his grip didn’t falter as he suddenly moved his wand to her forehead and whispered “Legilimens!”
Her surroundings bled away and she was taken along with Voldemort as he took a trip through her mind. He was neither subtle nor light-handed as he invaded her mind but sharp and quick as an asp as he darted to her light tower. He shot through the bricks as if they were sheets of silk and she had to adapt, feinting memories, throwing others forward, burying others. She saw her meetings with Snape, conversations with James, memories containing Dumbledore fly past her. She allowed herself to stumble- relinquishing memories spent with Sirius, past relationships, her parents. She couldn’t be too skilled so as to raise suspicion.
His barrage was endless and she was forced to pick up the pieces, scattering to pack away memories he left in his wake and she was left dizzy and reeling.
The pressure in her skull plateaued when he finished and when he released his hold on her, she crumpled to the floor and felt tears on her face.
“You are certainly interesting, Vera Potter”
He made no move to help her up as he walked towards the door, Bellatrix behind him.
“Severus will notify you when you are required” was his last comment before leaving.
She didn’t move from her spot on the floor, too weak to move.
Snape whisked towards her, “Get up.”
She just shook her head while heaving. She was able to keep her cool this entire time, her occlumency protecting her, allowing her to shut the rest of the world out and focus on this mission but she was left in shambles, everything she repressed hit her in an instant.
Her mind was disorganized and her body felt weak.
She felt an arm grip hers in an effort to pull her up.
“Don’t touch me” she snarled halfheartedly but Snape only held her tighter.
“We have to leave. Now.” he gritted out before pulling her to the floo and they left in a torment of green flames.
It was so much worse than when Snape did it. Snape was an annoyance, a pest but Voldemort was pure evil. An arrow wrapped with barbed wire as he barraged through her head with no regard to the damage he left in his wake.
She had never encountered such undiluted dark power and it was terrifying.
He dragged her to the sofa and lay her back on it and she realized she was shaking.
“Why did he- Why?” her teeth chattered.
“It was a test.”
“D- Did I pass?”
He huffed, “You’re still alive so yes.”
He left the room briefly and came back with a glass of water and a vial.
She moved her eyes sluggishly to him and he could see the distrust clearly in her gaze.
“I know what it’s like” was his only explanation. “Take this”
She shook her head.
“It’s just a Calming Draught.”
Her eyes began to close and he managed to bring it to her lips and tipped it down her throat.
She felt warmth envelop her as she shut her eyes and her mind silenced enough to allow her to drift away.
_______
She came to her senses a few hours later, her face smooshed up against the leather sofa and she slowly peeled her face off of it.
The clock on the mantle read 4:55 AM and she inwardly groaned.
Then the events of last night caught up to her and she realized she had fallen asleep on Snape’s sofa.
She got up so fast that her legs tangled in the blanket and she instantly fell to the floor. This time she outwardly groaned.
She scrambled to the floo shouting Potter manor before leaving, cursing the whole way home.
She got home and proceeded to collapse in her own bed, hoping no one would realize when she came home.