Darkened Lust

Part Sixteen

Severus' expression remained impassive as he regarded the other wizard. He had spared Ami a glance but did not allow any of the concern he felt for her to show upon his visage. Instead he spoke calmly to Lucius, "Lower your wand, Malfoy," he said, keeping his own waist-high, "I have no idea where your son is."

"Liar!" Spat Lucius, making no effort to lower his wand. Snape noticed, however, that his hand shook slightly. Evidence that the man wasn't as self-assured as he would have them believe. And why shouldn't he be? He had his only child to think of and worry about. "You know bloody well where he is... and you are going to tell me....now!"

At his words, he pointed his wand at Ami and she jerked, screaming, as the sear along her back glowed red-hot and burned her skin. She clawed at her back in an attempt to stop the pain. Becca sobbed and tried to hold onto her, screaming at Lucius; "Stop it! Stop it! You fucking bastard!"

Quickly, while Severus was distracted, Snape magically disarmed Lucius. Malfoy was momentarily taken aback as his wand jerked out of his hand, flew across the room and landed, spinning, with a clatter across the floor.

A second passed in which both men stared at each other and then at the wand. Becca held Ami on the floor and crooned to her as Ami continued to sob in pain and fear, curling up against her friend and holding onto her for dear life. Thank goodness the searing pain had ceased the moment Lucius had lost his wand.

"No!" Lucius cried, diving after his wand. Severus reacted similarily, only, he dived after Lucius. The scramble that followed was hectic, to say the least, and Becca wondered who would end up on top.

It would actually have been funny to see the normally in control head of the Malfoy clan reduced to wrestling on the floor if the circumstances weren't so dire.

"Malfoy!" Snape snarled, "Listen to me! I do not know where Draco is!"

"Liar!" Lucius insisted. He let loose an uppercut that caught Snape under the jaw and sent him flying off of Malfoy, who reared up, clutching his wand, once more. He flipped it about swiftly, as he gained his knees and pointed it at Snape; "Not another step."

Severus narrowed his black eyes and he nodded; "Kill me if you must, Lucius," he said, in an almost agreeable manner, "But, think on this, before you act. If, as you have been insisting, I know where your son is, how shall I tell you if I'm dead?"

"Oh, I have no intention of killing you, old friend," Lucius said, smirking, "Crucio!"

"No!" Becca gasped, but Severus had seen this coming, and was able to successfully block the curse, though it took an effort as the wizard who'd cast it was no second-rate magic-user.

Lucius growled and doubled his efforts; "Cucio! Crucio! Crucio!" he cried, aiming the curse towards Snape. Each time the curse bounced off Snape's defenses.

"You never learn, do you, Malfoy?" Snape sneered, "Your impatience and arrogance will the end of you. You and Draco both. Like father like son..."

In spite of outward appearances, Snape was tiring. Though he knew better than to let Lucius know this. Ami and Becca, who were connected to him on more than just the obvious levels, felt his weariness as though it were their own.

Becca clamped a hand over Ami's mouth when she would have cried out to him. Still overcome with fear and recent agony, Ami was not exactly in her best state of mind.

Instead of answering Snape, Lucius, with a flick of his wrist and a change in position, pointed his wand towards Becca and Ami and snarled an incantation between his clenched teeth. Becca felt herself flying up and away from Ami.

She screamed in protest, throwing a string of profantanties such, that would make the Marquis De Sade blush crimson, at Lucius Malfoy. He merely shrugged and suddenly threw the same curse he'd attempted on Snape at her; "Crucio!"

Becca heard Ami's sharp intake of breath as the curse caught Becca square in the chest as she floated above the floor.

Ami looked up and saw he friend's mouth opening and closing in a silent scream, the pain so intense that she could make no sound.

Lucius kept his wand leveraged upon Becca and laughed as Becca writhed in mid-air like a kind of macabe, pain-wracked puppet...

"Did I not warn you," Lucius said to Severus, keeping his wand, and thus the curse, directed upon Becca, "What would happen if you did not provide me with the information I seek?"

"Becca!" Ami screamed, and not thinking of anything save stopping him from hurting her beloved friend, launched herself at Lucius and dug her teeth savagely into his outstretched wand-arm.

Malfoy's attention focused on torturing Rebecca, Ami's attack took him completly by surprise. He screamed in rage and pain, striking her over the head with one hand to make her let go. She dropped to the floor, but so did Rebecca...and his wand.

Ignoring the aches still wracking her body, Becca darted to where his wand lay. Ami had renewed her attack, the two of them struggling, and Becca was able to put one foot on the magical instrument and grab the end with one hand. She pulled, and the wand snapped like a stick of kindling. Becca winced, half expecting a flash of light, maybe even an explosion, but there was nothing. The dry snap was almost anticlimactic.

"Immobulous!" they heard Severus yell, and Lucius crashed to the floor paralized. Ami, panting, savagely kicked his chest one final time. Her rage-fueled energy departing, she collapsed to the floor near Becca, who crawled over to her. Ami reached out for her, and Becca spared a moment to give her a swift hug, then turned her gently to inspect the wound on her back.

It was still pouring blood, so Becca whipped off her shirt and pressed it to the gash in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Both of them were near to losing consciousness. Severus knew he had to get them out soon. But ensuring their safety also meant pacifying Lucius, which wasn't going to be easy. They had not fought another Death Eater this day, they had fought an enraged father afraid for his son, an opponent a thousand times more dangerous.

He glared at Lucius, who returned the look in full measure. "I will speak with you of Draco in a moment," he told him, and turned his back on the pure-blood to check on the womens' wounds. Kneeling beside them, he carefully removed the compress Becca had fashioned, and traced his wand along her wound, whispering softly.

Several times he did this, while Becca watched in wonder as the ugly wound stopped bleeding and closed up. It left a thin scar, and she reached out to trace a finger over it, then looked at Severus questioningly. "It will fade over the course of a few days," he told her, and she sighed in relief.

Turning his attention to her, he asked, "And how are you, my brave little pet who doesn't listen", he stressed the word lightly, "to what she is told to do?"

"Se...Sev..." she managed, still having a hard time speaking through the pain.

"Becca, look at me! It's important!" he urged.

"Yes?"

He took her chin between his fingers, staring at her seriously, and said, "Don't call me 'Sev'." Becca stared at him, completely taken by surprise. His lips twitched, and she burst out laughing, but it was quickly cut off by her moan of pain.

"Then don't make me laugh again," she told him.

He kissed her cheek and said, "Agreed."

Turning to give Ami a kiss as well, he then rose and walked to where Lucius still lay, snarling. Kneeling again beside him, he spoke. "Lucius. I do not know where Draco is, but I do know who has him."

"Who, then?" Lucius spat.

"Draco is in the custody of the Order Of the Pheonix." Snape said calmly.

"You...you traitorous bastard!" Malfoy spat. "You were supposed to protect him! You promised his mother to protect him!"

"What do you think I am doing?" Snape bent closer to the pale wizard. "Calm yourself and listen or by gods, I won't tell you another word." He waited for Malfoy to give assent before he continued. "Yes, Draco is in their custody. I myself orchestrated his capture IN ORDER TO KEEP MY PROMISE TO HIS MOTHER!" Snape's voice rose to a shout in order to be heard over Lucius's renewed curses, and at his last words, Malfoy was silenced.

"What would his life be worth in the Dark Lord's hands after his failure at Hogwarts, Lucius?" Snape asked in a calmer voice. The look in Malfoy's eyes told him that he had not spared time to think of this until now. "With the Order, he may be a captive, but he is alive. They will not kill him. Can you say as much of the Dark Lord?"

"No," Lucius whispered in horror.

Snape continued. "You yourself are not very high in his good graces right now. However, you are still useful to him. But do you think he would hesitate to use Draco to punish you? Draco is safe where he is, Lucius. Leave him there for the time being. Do you agree?" Snape as well as the women behind him waited with baited breath for Malfoy's answer.

At last he said, "Yes, Severus. I agree."

Snape closed his eyes for a split second in relief, then lifted his wand and removed the curse from Malfoy, and even helped him to his feet. He could feel that the danger had passed...for the moment.

"I will trust you for now, Severus," Malfoy said. "But if anything happens to my son, you and your lovers there will suffer a thousand times the agonies that Draco does." Severus opened his mouth to protest, but was quickly cut off. "Oh, spare me! It's obvious that these muggles mean more to you than you want me to know. I am far from stupid, my friend. So bear in mind, if you have sent my son to his death, they will die at the hands of the Dark Lord himself. But they will beg for death long before it is granted."

Severus could only bow and say, "I understand."

"Good. Now you take them and get out of my house before I change my mind."

Snape wasted no time. He swiftly turned to the women and gathered them in his arms. "Are you ready, my pets? Then hold on to me." They closed their eyes, and the pain of Disappertion was increased by the aches of what they had been through. Opening their eyes to the familiar confines of the bedroom they shared was worth all the discomfort, however.

Severus insisted that they both lie down and rest, though neither of them felt tired. They obeyed him, though, and lay down in each others arms. Staring up at the ceiling, Becca felt pity for Lucius even through her hate of the man. What if it had been Dragon? she thought. What would she do, how many innocents would she harm, in order to find him? The answer, of course, was as many as it would take.