Insomnia

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from the books or the movies. That privilege belongs to the gracious J.K. Rowling. I do not make any money from writing of this story. Again, that privilege belongs to the gracious J.K. Rowling.

A/N: I promised you it would get darker form here on out. Since I haven’t updated in a while, I promise to make this chapter extra long.
Here it goes!

Inside The Snake Pit
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Snape had positioned himself in the front row according to his rank. Lucius was on his left side chatting merrily to the deranged Bellatrix, who was not surprisingly, his first. When Voldermort appeared, talking had ceased and all eyes focused on Voldermort. Bellatrix suddenly strode up to Voldermort. Her heavily lidded eyes filled with lust as she kissed his outstretched hand. “My Lord,” she breathed. “I’m honored by your presence.” Snape mentally regurgitated. She was a psychotic person. “My beautiful Bella, see me after.” Voldermort stated. Bellatrix lovingly bowed and disappeared into a room on the right side of the damp chamber. “Avery” He demanded. The trembling wizard walked from the back of the room to meet Voldermort’s gaze. When he kissed Voldermort’s outstretched hand, he kept his head bent. “It appears Avery that you did not receive the necessary information that I requested of you.” Voldermort said. “My Lord---” Crucio” Voldermort shouted. Avery dropped to the floor and started to twitch horribly. He rolled over, rocking from side to side. His horrific screams rose and filled the chamber. When his eyes rolled back, Voldermort lazily lifted the curse. Wormtail scuttled in and dragged Avery’s shaking form out of his master’s presence. “Now where were we?” Voldermort smiled. “Oh yes, Severus.” Snape walked up and repeated Avery and Bellatrix’s actions by kissing his hand. He got down on one knee and bended his head down. “My gracious lord, I have information worthy of your excellent ears.” He said. “Dumbledore had gained an alliance with the centaurs. He has promised them more land to roam in exchange for their help.” Voldermort laughed. “What a fool Dumbledore is. Centaurs do not fully trust wizards. Even so, Lucius!” He shouted. Lucius bowed down. “Yes my lord.” He said. “Make sure we have recruited the giants.” “Yes, my lord.” Voldermort turned his attention back to the kneeling form of Snape. “Once again, Severus, you have pleased me. Do you have any more information for me?” He asked. “Yes, my Lord. I have found out that I had impregnated Harry Potter’s advisor, Hermione Granger from our previous ‘encounter’. When Dumbledore found out, that disgusting old coot forced me into marrying her.” He grimaced. Voldermort chuckled. “What does Potter have to say about it?” “When he and the Order found out, they had all forsaken her.” Snape said. Voldermort thought over the new information. “Severus,” he said, “The Order’s downfall will be our success. What skills do a pathetic Mudblood like her have?” “My Lord, she excelled mostly in Potions and Spells, as well as Transfiguration.” “Hmm, Severus, bring her to the next meeting. I want to see for myself what her skills in Spells are.” Voldermort said. “Of course, my Lord.” Snape said. “Before you leave Severus, there is one more thing. Crucio!” Voldermort shouted. Snape fell back and trembled violently. After ten seconds of agony, Voldermort lifted the curse. Snape stopped twitching but the pain was still there. “That was for marrying the dirty Mudblood. You may leave.” Snape painfully stood and bowed. As he was walking out, Snape heard Voldermort call out another Death Eater, “Mulciber”. As he neared the apparition point; he could hear Mulciber scream as the curse afflicted his body. With a crack, Snape apprated and a moment later, he was standing in his own living room. Using all of his remaining strength, Snape walked into the bedroom. Closing his eyes, all he could hear before he passed out was Hermione screaming his name.

“So you’re saying that Voldermort wants to meet me?” Hermione said. She handed Snape a green vial. The effects from the curse were gone but the pain was still lingering. He grimaced as he uncorked the bottle and drowned the contents. “Yes, as Dumbledore suspected, he wants to utilize your skills.” He said. Hermione was shocked. She had to enter Voldermort’s lair as a double spy. Under different circumstances, she would instantly take the offer. She would be doing the Order an enormous favor . Now she was pregnant. She could not, no would not, take the chances. Yet, she was also a Death Eater’s wife and had no choice in the matter. “How good is your Occulumency?” He asked. It was an unusual question. “Ummm, it’s above average.” She responded. “Well, tomorrow we are going to start training. You need to be able to block your mind from Voldermort.” She nodded in agreement.

The next few days were taxing on Hermione and Snape was not helping. Snape had started his lessons with Hermione. Every time Snape had entered her mind, she blocked him from seeing most of her memories, but he always managed to catch a glimpse of some. On their third try, had had saw a smaller version of Hermione trying to ride a yellow bike. Before he had seen more, she forced him out of her mind. “Hermione, please focus. Our lives depend on this.” He said. “Legilimens,” He shouted. Once again, he tried to enter Hermione’s mind. Immediately, Hermione tried to suppress her memories. Snape was constantly probing her mind but Hermione was fairing quite well against the onslaught on her mind. Hermione would have successfully driven Snape out but a memory was seeping out from the barrier she had created. Snape recognized the memory all to well. Retreating, Snape sat down in the nearest chair. Neither one had said anything. The silence was excruciating. Snape silently stood up and spoke, “Tomorrow we start again with your lessons.”

Hermione slumped down in her chair. For the last week, Snape had been training relentlessly. The only time she had gotten breaks is when she feigned tiredness brought on by her pregnancy. Even that had not worked for long. Due to her tiredness, he had started their lessons way too early in the morning. She was starting to get grumpy from the lack of sleep. She slouched down further in the chair when Snape had entered the room. “I really don’t se why we have to keep doing this. I can already push you out of my mind with ease.” She said. Snape quickly growled at her. “When you are surrounded by Voldermort and his Death Eaters, you need to be able to have constant vigilance with you mind.” He said. Hermione chucked silently. He reminded her of Moody breathing ‘constant vigilance’ down everyone’s throat. She had to admit he was right. There was no telling what they would do when her focus was somewhere else. “Now, prepare yourself,” He said, gaining her attention. With that, he started on his intrusion. Hermione could feel him once again trying to intrude into her mind. She hastily formed barriers to derail him. Snape easily felt this and in retaliation, pushed harder. She still had not given up. Feeling that she was ready, he decided to move on to the next chapter of their lessons. He began to throw small but effective explosions at her barriers. He had wanted to break her defensives not mentally incapacitate her. Hermione was stunned at this new change of events. He had never tried this hard to get past her defensives. It was taking its toll on her body having to erect a wall one right after the other. When she could take no more, she sagged in to her chair. “No more.” She said wearily. Snape effortlessly withdrew from her mind and sank into the nearest chair. “Hermione, you need to be able to disengage me before you get tired.” He said. She weakly ran he hand through her hair. “I am sorry, I cannot help it. I’m fourth teen weeks pregnant and I get tired easily.” “Use that to your advantage when dealing with Voldermort.” Make him regret underestimating you.” He looked to her to hear her response but it never came. Too weak to stand up, Hermione simply dozed off in the chair. Snape casually watched the witch sleep. He took notice of how she lightly snored for a few minutes before her breath evened out. He was right about one thing. Voldermort would underestimate her because of her blood lineage. He did not think muggleborns had the necessary qualities to be defined as a proper witch or wizard. Snape knew that one misconception would be his downfall. He just wished that he did not have to drag Hermione into this. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. If that was true, he would ride farther and faster than anyone else. Why should he dawdle on something he could not fix? Right now, he had to focus on things in the present. Remembering Hermione, Snape darted out of his chair. He gently scooped Hermione into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. After laying her down in the bed, Snape slipped into the bed as well and closed his eyes. He sighed in competent as sleep washed over him and embraced him.

“Shit” Snape cursed out loud. He shot straight up from his sleep and grasped his forearm. His Dark Mark had intensified in color as well as pain. He was being summoned by Voldermort directly. He looked over to see a still sleeping Hermione. He shook her hard. “Wake up Hermione.” He said. He was greeted with a groan. He shook her again, harder than before. This time greeted with a groan. H shook her harder than before. This time he had gotten words out of her. “What’s wrong?” She asked half asleep. “We’ve been summoned.” With that, Hermione shot straight up. Snape rose from the bed and went to the closet. Grabbing his mask and robes, he donned them while Hermione watched. When he was finished, he took another black robe from the closet and tossed them to her. “These are yours.” He said. She quickly undressed and slipped on the robes as well. It was rather tight at the bust but loose at the waist. She had wanted to ask where he had gotten this from but such silly questions were not important right now. Hurrying up, Hermione fixed her wild hair in to a tight, messy bun. “Are you ready?” She replied with a nod. He grabbed her by the waist and apprated to Voldermort’s lair.

When they arrived, the air was cold and stale. Hermione looked at her surroundings. The stone walls were damp and dingy. It made her feel like she was in a dungeon. Snape abruptly grabbed her by the hand and pulled her in the direction he was going. “Remember your training.” He said. Hermione didn’t need reminding. As they moved through the dungeon, she felt like she was in Hell. They suddenly entered the inner chambers. The lighting was adequate but it could use some improvement. There were Death Eaters left and right lined up in a circle. When they moved closer, she could make out a huge chair in the center. As Snape took his place in the inner part of the circle, Voldermort appeared. His disfigured figure sat graciously in the chair. He was acting like a bloody king! When his slit red eyes glanced at her, a shiver made its way down her back. Snape and the others bowed down. She was so surprised; she did not notice she was the only one standing. “Severus, why does your Mudblood of a wife not bow down?” Voldermort asked. Snape looked up to see Hermione foolishly still standing. “She is a Mudblood. They obviously do not know their place.” He said. Snape pulled out this wand and flicked it at Hermione. At once, her knees buckled and she fell to the ground on her knees. Laughter rang throughout the room. Hermione was silently crying to herself. She was used to being called that by Malfoy throughout her days at Hogwarts.hearing Snape call her that was heartbreaking. It was an act but the words still stung terribly. Voldermort raised his hand and all laughter died out. Voldermort got up from his chair. Grabbing her chin, he made Hermione stand up. “Severus, it seems that you have made your wife cry with your cruel words.” He said. “She needs to be taken down a peg or two.” He replied. It was then, she felt him trying to invade her mind. She was keeping her defenses up but little by little he was knocking down like bowling pins. Remembering what Snape had mention, she appeared to be tiring physically. Voldermort saw that and with a great amount of force, he broke through a critical blockade. Instantly, she assembled a wall so powerful, she managed to push Voldermort out of her mind. She stumbled a little from the impact and looked up to see Voldermort back in the chair with an eerie smirk on his snake like face. “Severus, she’s quite skilled for a Mudblood. You have done quite well.” He said. “Thank you, my Lord.” He replied. Hermione had turned towards Snape. He was still kneeling but something had changed about him. His expression was stoic. He looked colder and more detached than ever. Voldermort startled her when he had clapped his hands. Right next to her, a type of arena had sprung up fro the ground. “If you are as skilled as Severus says you are, you must prove it. You are to defeat ten of my Death Eaters.” He said. She was mortified. She was pregnant and he wanted to duel ten people who were out for blood! He truly was a sick man. Hermione looked around and noticed that the ten Death Eaters were already lined up and ready for her. Not having a choice in the matter, she walked to the arena and stood on the opposite side. Wands drawn, they looked at her with pure hate and disgust from her. She looked around the room and saw that the onlookers had the same look on their faces. She knew already that this was going to be tough. “As much as it pains me to say this but there are a few rules. One, no one is to use the Killing Curse. Two, no outside help is allowed.” Voldermort said. There were quite a number of people who groaned at the statement. “Now, now everyone. Surely ten of my faithful followers won’t disappoint me by losing to a Mudblood, right?” He said. Cheers rang throughout the room as everybody reassured themselves of the upcoming victory. No Mudblood was going to defeat ten of their fellow brethren. Hermione got a closer look of her opponents. There were nine men and one female. The woman had tied her long blond hair back and had a very ugly look on her face. The men looked like they were ready to pounce on her. She glanced at Snape. He looked at her with the same face, devoid of any emotion. Sighing, she turned back to her opponents. Voldermort raised his wand and a loud crack was heard. All at once, ten different colored jets of magic were aimed at Hermione. Thinking quickly, Hermione flicked her want and a blue shield formed around her. In the audience, Snape mentally scolded her. Shield charms only blocked spells for certain amount to time and all spells going out lose half of their effectiveness. Hermione threw a stunner at the man on the farthest right, and Snape was amazed. The man was thrown back at the impact. She had modified it somehow. Looking back to her, he noticed that she was struggling with the shield. It was only natural that it took its toll on her. It was being attacked by nine different people.

Hermione was struggling with keeping up the shield she made. She had to do something before it completely disappeared. Thinking of an idea, Hermione turned her wand on herself and made a slashing movement on her chest. Instantly, three copies of herself appeared n by her side. Each copy mirrored her movements. “Solaris” she cried. A huge burst of light appeared and temporarily blinded her opponents as well as the crowd. Seeing that everyone was occupied, she used that to her advantage. “Stupefy, stupefy, stupefy!” She shouted. Hermione managed to stun three of the blind Death Eaters. Four were down and there were six more to go. One of the remaining men waved his wand and the bright light disappeared. They looked angrier than before. The remaining six relentlessly started throwing curses which made her shield weak to the point where it disappeared completely. Panicking, her and her duplicates tried to block everything that was thrown at them. She was too slow on the draw and two of her duplicates took the hit and vanished. She knew she couldn’t win this battle head on. She was too slow in her condition to fight head on. She needed protection of some sort. A curse whizzed by and struck the last reaming copy. Rationalizing, Hermione waved her wand and pillars grew from the ground. She barely made it behind one as a white light whooshed by her shoulder. That was too close. The crowd cheered for their comrades as Hermione retreated back behind the pillars. The remanding six decided that they should band together to defeat her. They slowly advanced towards her; they were going to end this here and now. As soon as they were a foot away from the first pillar, the ground started to shake. The three furthest to the rear started to back up but the ones in front stood in place. Out of nowhere, the ground exploded and a myriad of vines encircled themselves around the trio of paralyzed men. They attempted to slash away their binds with severing charms but found this hopeless. When one was cut, three more grew in its place. The vines snaked their way up the men’s bodies and enveloped them in a strong grasp. Once they were successfully captured, the vines hauled them up and threw them to the opposite wall where they fell in a huge pile, unconscious.

The remaining three gazed at their fallen brethren and started to blow up the pillars. They were going to maker her pay. Hermione had to duck and dive as best as she could as debris fell. Snape watched intensely. He had secretly applauded her. It took a person with incredible skill to manipulate elemental magic. Still she had to be careful. He glanced around the room. Everyone was watching the entertainment intensely. He found himself staring at Lucius and Bellatrix. Lucius looked like he had fire in his eyes. That was not a good omen. He had to remind himself to warn Hermione when they were alone. Having Lucius interested in you meant serious repercussions. Bellatrix also watched Hermione with crazed eyes. He glanced down to see her gripping her wand tightly. Snape had a pretty good guess what she wanted to do. Bellatrix would torture just for fun. Spear of the devil, the sadistic woman waltzed up to him. “Severus, are you enjoying the show?” She said in a playful voice. “Hmm, if you call this a show.” He replied. “Severus, dear, aren’t you worried about your Mudblood wife?” She asked as her heavily lidded eyes fluttered. Her long, think shining black hair draped her half clothed shoulders. “Hardly.” He looked with little interest. She looked at Hermione as she stunned another Death Eater. “She looks like fun to play with. Severus, let me play with her. I’ll be sure to bring her back to you in one piece.” She said. Snape mentally cringed. He knew what happened to people when Bellatrix ‘played’ with them. None of them came back in alive or sane. “Well Bella, if I let you played with her, what would I tell Potter ad his friends when they come looking for her?” He said. She pouted like a child who didn’t what they wanted. “Severus, you’re no fun.” She moved from him to Voldermort‘s side. There was no way he’d let Bellatrix get a hold of Hermione. He turned his attention back towards Hermione as she took down another Death Eater. Now it was only Hermione and the blond woman.

Around him, people were chanting “Zafina.” He barely remembered her. The only thing interesting about ther was that she had unusually blond hair for some one with an Arabic heritage. H had only seen her couple of times but he knew she played dirty and she was hopelessly vain. Hermione glanced around as all the pillars she had conjured were destroyed. The arena was littered with the stone debris. The woman in front of her cackled. “Looks like you have nothing to cower behind, Mudblood.” Cheers and catcalls rang from all sides of the arena. One -on-one wasn’t bad but she was at a disadvantage. The blond woman named Zafina was older but she was physically built. She, on the other hand, was fourteen weeks pregnant. She couldn’t duck or dive like the other woman. Zafina began to raise her wand, When Hermione spoke first. “Stupefy” she cried. Zafina ducked out the way and sent a nonverbal spell towards Hermione. She blocked it and sent another towards the blond. Zafina dodged it but it grazed her right arm. “Bitch, you’ll pay for that!” She shouted. She threw another spell towards Hermione. She was quick to move out of the way but it stilled scraped her shoulder. A burning sensation was felt. She winced at the pain but she had to keep going. “Mudblood, I’m bound to win this duel. Don’t you know Zafina means victorious? You should just admit defeat right now. As a matter of fact, you can kiss my shoes like the dirty Mudblood you are.” She laughed while flipping her shoulder length hair. The entire crowd laughed as well. They knew that Zafina was full of herself. Hermione was not impressed at all by some vain tart. “Bugger off you pathetic excuse for a human being.” She said. Zafina stopped laughing. “You’ll regret that Mudblood.” She said with an ominous tone. Hermione wanted to finish this now. She was ruthless. Hermione sent spell after spell on Zafina. The blond blocked every one of them except the last. The spell made a moderate cut on her left check as well as severed her blond locks. Now it was barely past her ears. The whole crowd gasped at the damage. Zafina touched her cheek. It stung but the little blood that smeared on her fingers told her that it was probably wasn’t going to scar. So she couldn’t figure out why everyone looked frightened. One witch from the crowd called out to the confused witch. ”Fina, look at your hair!” Perplexed, Zafina felt around to her hair. Her eyes widen at the new discovery. Her beautiful hair was nothing more that a crew cut! Her facial expressions turned frightened as she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Die, you filthy Mudblood!” She screamed as she raised her wand and aimed it at Hermione. “Avada-----” “Crucio” Voldermort shouted. Zafina fell backwards to the ground. Her screams filled the room as she convulsed horribly. Hermione looked at the girl in a state of shock. She had never seen a human being under the Unforgivable. As much as Zafina was a bitch, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the amount of pain the woman was in. After an agonizing five minutes, Voldermort lazily lifted the curse. Hermione saw as Wormatil scampered in. Hermione wished that she could grab Wortail and chuck him into Azkaban. He came and dragged the twitching girl back the way he came. “I have no use for people who disobey me.” Voldermort said as he addressed the crowd.

Turning towards Hermione, Voldermort clapped his hands. In a blink of an eye, the arena vanished and Hermione found herself standing on the stone floor of the dungeon. “Severus, you weren’t wrong when you told me she was talented.” Voldermort said still eying Hermione. He looked at her like she was a valuable piece of jewelry. He liked her a lot but she was still a Mudblood. He didn’t doubt she was powerful so he had to make sure Severus had complete control over her. “Severus” He said. In an instant Snape was on his knee bowing down to Voldermort. “Your wife is very gifted.” He finished. “Thank you, my Lord.” Snape said. Voldermort continued. “Yet she seems to have forgotten her place here.” Snape turned to see Hermione still standing. Putting on his stoic expression again, he stood up and walked toward her. He mentally apologized to her for what he was about to do. Hermione was puzzled. What was Severus going to do to her?

CRACK! Snape had backhanded Hermione. The force of the slap knocked her backward onto the cold, stone floor. “How dare you insult our Lord?” He growled. Hermione didn’t answer right away. She was still on the floor, holding her cheek in pain. It was unbearable. She started to sob uncontrollably. “Shut the hell up.” He barked. Hermione flinched at the harshness of his words and her sobs became quieter. Snape looked back towards Voldermort who seemed pleased with his actions. Voldermort concluded that he had nothing to worry about. “Severus, to may leave and take the pathetic Mublood with you.” He said. Severus bowed towards Voldermort. Grabbing Hermione by her arm, he yanked her up to her feet. Practically dragging her by her arm, he led the way to the apparition point. Arriving, Hermione wrapped herself around Severus as they disappeared.

Landing in their living room, the couple collapsed onto the floor. Snape held Hermione tightly as she cried into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes after she had become silent. Looking down at her, he noticed that her cheek was starting to swell and that she had fell asleep. Picking her up gently, Severus moved from the living room to the bedroom. When he arrived, he gently laid her down in the bed. With a flick of his wand, he divested her of her clothes. He flicked his wand again and Hermione was dressed in a black nightgown. After that, he went to the bathroom and came back with a jar. He opened the jar and dipped his fingertips into the orange-like balm. He took it out and rubbed it on Hermione’s shoulder. He knew that she had been burned by the way she had cringed under his touch earlier. That tart got exactly what she deserved in Snape’s opinion. She had come close to casting the Killing Curse at Hermione because she had taken her down a peg or two. He closed the jar and readjusted her straps. Putting the jar back onto its self in the bathroom, he reappeared back into the bedroom. Wearily, he took off his boots and unfastened his robes. Those robes bring nothing but despair and disaster unto loved ones. When he was done, he silently slipped into the sheets next to the sleeping witch. Sensing his presence, she turned over to face him. “Hold me.” She said sleepily. Snape happily obliged. He felt a sense of happiness having her in his arms. It a small gesture but it felt like the world to him. Yet he knew that this would not continue if Voldermort was still in this world. Snape realized that whether he liked it or not, he would have to team up with Potter if he wanted this happiness to continue. For Hermione and his unborn child, Snape would do anything, anything at all.

A/N: Aww, I loved the ending, it made me cry. Plz R/R. Reviews are a drug to me, my own person brand of Heroin.