InsaneJournal

RP Narrative: Severus Snape & the Dark Lord
Who: Severus Snape & the Dark Lord
When: 7 September 1979; Afternoon
Where: The Dark Lord's Lair.
What: Lord Voldemort calls Severus back for a report.
Rating: PG
Status: COMPLETE.

Following the debacle at dueling practise and the resulting reminder of focus from Rodolphus Lestrange, Severus had gotten very serious about the meeting with the Dark Lord that he knew would come sooner or later. Unlike his friends, Severus knew he couldn't afford to be childish or immature. Mr Lestrange's rather lengthy lecture had been a good reminder to Severus that he had to be adult about the war that was upon them. The luxury of childish grudges and mucking about was for people with purer blood who were automatically granted more leeway than he would ever be. Severus was beginning to accept that, although he didn't like it. Life had never been fair, why had he expected anything less? For the moment, at least, his feet were on solid ground. Mr Lestrange and Mr Dolohov had both told him he was a credit to the cause. It was up to him to make certain he stayed that way. So as he brewed potions and studied ancient runes, took care of a kitten that was, as Mulciber had aptly put it 'blatantly cute', he shifted through memories and words, both renewing his determination, and putting away with those memories or thoughts that might betray him. Ruthless, committed, even callous. Aberforth Dumbledore's words from nearly a month ago haunted Severus. Perhaps all the more haunting for how true he knew they were required to be. Could he be that man? The answer was yes. The answer was in fact, that he had to be that man. Ruthless. He would tell the Dark Lord everything that had happened that morning in the pub. Tell the Dark Lord the factual truth. The facts were nothing more than what a Death Eater one hundred percent committed to providing the Dark Lord with information about the vigilantes, would have attempted. When one source was unavailable, find and exploit another. It was absurdly reasonable, and while it might be callous for Severus to place Aberforth, who had been a friend to him through several rough times recently, it was necessary. The facts spoke of nothing other than his commitment to the cause. And the latter was what nobody could be given reason to doubt. Although he had sent the owl to the Dark Lord on Wednesday, it was Sunday before the mark burned on his arm. A full three weeks after the Dark Lord had told him and Severus tried not to think about what the delay meant. Surely it meant nothing. The Dark Lord had merely had other things on his mind - perhaps Severus should be relieved that he had been given an extra week to practise Occlumency and indeed by the time he was called, Severus had spent hours every day focusing on Occlumency. While he had no reason to believe that the Dark Lord might try to invade his mind in the way Bellatrix Lestrange had done, Severus wanted to make certain that he was as prepared as it was humanly possible to be. In the end that meant that when the mark burned his current feelings about Lily were buried quite deeply. His doubts and uncertainties from talking with Aberforth were also tucked away. Duty and commitment to the pureblood cause was all that Severus had allowed himself to think about: The mission he had undertaken with Barty & Demetrius: The dueling practises with the other Death Eaters every Wednesday: Ways to get further information from Pettigrew and O'Hare and even Dumbledore. The realisation of hypocrisy had made Severus cynical. And with the cynicism had come a renewed sense of what was really important to him. He wanted to survive this. He wanted to be knowledgeable and respected and perform his tasks without failure or mistake. He wanted Lily to survive this. He was not certain he could save the entire group of vigilantes when they seemed destined to destroy themselves. He was not certain that he wanted to. And while Severus appreciated and respected Aberforth Dumbledore's assistance and advice, Severus had to do this himself. He was the only person who could do this. When the call came from the Dark Lord Sunday afternoon, Severus was as prepared as he could be. The words had been rehearsed a dozen times in his mind. The necessary facts paired down to the absolute barest essentials. Nothing that was not necessary to tell the Dark Lord to make him believe the story. Severus' mind had been so frequently closed over the past week, that he was beginning to wonder if he could access some of the memory and emotion that he was burying away. But it would not do to be cocky - to be overconfident in his ability would be his greatest mistake. The Dark Lord would always be stronger than Severus - and so long as Severus did not underestimate him, he had a chance to survive. The mark burned; Severus Apparated to his master's side. "Severus," Voldemort's smile of greeting held no warmth, and the outstretched hand beckoned imperiously rather than welcomed. "My Lord," Severus said respectfully, stepping closer. Severus could feel the Dark Lord in his mind almost as soon as his feet were on the ground. Dorcas Meadowes screams as he'd lifted a wand to torture her. His speech about duty and committment during the previous week's dueling session. Agnes naming the kitten in his journal - that had not actually been among the things he'd wanted the Dark Lord to see, and Severus strengthened his determination as Voldemort continued. "You have continued your discussions with your vigilante contacts," Voldemort said smoothly. "Perhaps you have something more useful to report." "I have," Severus said calmly. That he had spoken with Agnes was to be expected after all and so with any emotion regarding the event tucked away - this had been nothing but the continued completion of an order after all - He continued. The only emotion he might have was disgust at how far he was needing to take the charade. "Although journal contact does not always lend itself to the sharing of great secrets. Considering the difficulty in obtaining access to the other two, I have taken it upon myself to begin nurturing contacts elsewhere," he hoped initiative would be seen as a good thing. "I have exploited a contact I made shortly after O'Hare's incarceration. The owner of the Hog's Head pub is a fool," disgust leaked from Severus voice that was actually more for his Muggle father's behaviour under alcoholic fits than Aberforth Dumbledore's, but it was real disgust at the weaknesses alcohol caused in a man. "Pour a bit of alcohol in him and oh how he talks. He is a vigilante and under the illusion that I am trustworthy," Severus' smile was more satisfied than Voldemort's, but equally cool. "He is disgusting filth, but a very real link." Severus paused. The Dark Lord was in his mind. Severus kept his determination and he did not flinch as he looked the Dark Lord in the eye. His visits to the Hog's Head, his conversation with Agnes via the journals, even the events of the previous week's dueling practise were there, and Severus allowed the Dark Lord to access those events. All else was tucked away despite Voldemort's persistent prodding, and Severus began: his comments well rehearsed for brevity and usefulness. "The contact also gave me the opportunity to overhear part of a conversation between Albus Dumbledore and a witch named Trelawney," Severus said confidently, allowing a small smirk to play at his lips. "I have reason to believe I overheard a prophecy," he turned more serious. "And I believe it is of interest to you." As Severus had suspected, he had the Dark Lord's full attention. "Go on," the dark wizard said, his voice nearly a hiss. "I was interrupted," Severus frowned at the memory and there was no pretense in his annoyance as he had frequently wondered throughout the past week what the end of the prophecy had been. "I heard the following: the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, he will be born to those who have thrice defied you, at the end of the seventh month," he glanced up. "Unfortunately, that is where I was interrupted by the other Dumbledore, who proceeded then to throw me out of the pub." There was a long silence and Severus could feel Voldemort roaming through his mind, perhaps searching to see if there was anything that he was holding back - some additional knowledge of the prophecy, but there was truthfully nothing. Severus had heard no more whatever he might have liked to have heard, and as the entirety of the conversation with Abe was pushed to the bottom of his mind, the only thing left was Aberforth's distinctly raucous yelling as he had thrown Severus out of the Hog's Head that Saturday morning. Convinced that there were no lies, Voldemort turned around, pacing back and forth. "A prophecy," he said. "And you believe there was more." "I do, my Lord," Severus said. "They were still speaking when the fool pulled me away." Voldemort turned towards him, and there was a look in his eyes that Severus found almost chilling. But he didn't flinch, once again. It had not been his fault that he had not heard the rest of the prophecy. Although Severus was expecting it, it was more sudden than the spell had come before, and Severus only hoped he had been adequately prepared. The Dark Lord finally said, his voice smooth as silk: "There was a tunnel on the grounds of Hogwarts. Underneath the willow tree..." It was not a question Severus had been expecting, and the emotional reaction to the event was automatic. the hatred and resentment of Potter, Black, and Lupin might have been merely a flash, but it was there and the Dark Lord had been in his mind. It would have been an open book to the other wizard. Severus swallowed, pulling his emotions under control. The Dark Lord must have seen it before when he had been in Severus' mind. It was not as if the event would have been secret to anyone prior to Severus learning Occlumency - and apparently was still not - if Black had been mentioned, frankly, if werewolves were mentioned. "Yes, my Lord," he said simply, his mind back on the task at hand, and as the emotion had already flared up, he did not bother to shove it aside. There was no point when the Dark Lord had already seen. "One end is in the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade, the other is on the Hogwarts grounds. The willow is a whomping willow, but there is a knot in the tree that will freeze it." The Dark Lord nodded. "And how many people know of this tunnel?" Severus raised a hand. "I do not know. The Headmaster, obviously, and at least Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew. I know of it, but I do not know of anyone else who knows of it for certain. It would only be speculation." There was a silence and the Dark Lord seemed to pace for a while. "Good," he said finally, although the word was not so much one of praise as simply a dismissal of the topic of conversation. "And the other vigilantes, have you been able to get any more useful information from them?" "I continue the process of earning their trust," Severus said, pulling from his anger and resentment of Potter, Black, and Lupin to feed the distaste in his voice as he shook his head. "Pettigrew cannot be counted on to be useful," he said. "At times he seems trusting, at other times he is not. No doubt his friends influence, but with extra persuading, I believe he would spill more. He does not seem a strong willed individual, he merely needs more persuading." Voldemort nodded at Severus' words, "If he is no longer useful, he can be dealt with. And the girl? You have spoken with her in the journals and... in person?" Severus could not allow any response to the question, and so the damn from his gut was swallowed before it could surface. In his determination to keep Voldemort from the entire conversation with Aberforth, he had slipped. Agnes had been there the night that his Mother had died and it was information he would not have willingly given to Voldemort. "Yes," Severus said, there was no point in lying. "Recently it seems she has been willing to trust me more readily. I believe it is possible she may continue to be useful in the near future." "Along with this barkeep," Voldemort said smoothly. "Go. Continue gathering your information, Severus. I expect to be contacted when something of value is discovered. And if I do not hear from you, I shall contact you myself," the words were clear, but ominous to Severus and he knew that sometime within the next few weeks he should discover something, he needed to find some information to send to Voldemort, for he did not like the idea of what might occur should he not provide it. "Yes, my Lord," Severus said simply, giving a polite nod to the Dark Wizard. "Thank you, my lord."