A Nagini and Severus Tale
Greed Beyond Avarice - part one
Greed Beyond Avarice - part one
Summary: Severus reflects on when he accompanied Regulus Black to Gringotts at the end of the winter break, meeting Abraxas, Lucius, and Nagini Malfoy there.
"How to help Nagini?" he thought.
Risking Lucius' suspicion and wrath would be severe. A never-ending doubting of his loyalty and obedience would ensue, if he were openly caught helping her, in any way, against Lucius' wishes.
Nagini had been clearly marked as forbidden fruit, another supercilious, pristine Malfoy, not to be interfered with in any way, on any level, by anyone. Only by Lucius.
And the gods only knew how he needed Lucius, as well as the other purebloods, to get what he wanted in life, his burning secret agenda. Nothing must interfere with his aspirations to maintain staying within the chosen inner-circle of followers of the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort.
Since Severus had come of age, Voldemort had singled him out. His rare and unfathomable Potions and Dark Arts talents had been touted and rubbed in all the other Death Eaters' faces; he had been fully welcomed by the Dark Lord.
Severus had presented himself and his skills obsequiously to Voldemort, presenting his mind for Voldemort to enter, allowing the Dark Lord to see his deepest, darkest wishes.
At the time, Voldemort had only clandestinely smiled at him, and then he 'rewarded' Severus by giving him the Death Eaters' mark. Through the blinding pain of the tattooed mark being inserted into his left arm, holding the lustful gaze of Voldemort, images of position, power, and vengeance flashed through his mind in his raw anguish. The brutal and complete support and strength of the future, ruthless, untouchable governing forces of the Wizarding world would now be his.
Finally, unabated reciprocity, and true recognition of his worth and place in the world.
Taking the Dark Lord's mark had proven him worthy; moreover, he was now a true equal to the others, a wizard of the utmost pedigree, beyond the insipid, fanatical rantings of any of the pureblood followers.
He had been recognized and chosen by the great Dark Lord himself. He had been deemed meritorious, and would be rewarded by Voldemort. Voldemort had solemnly promised covetous rewards for all of his top, most loyal followers in the new world order. Severus would bide his time, and when the time was right, he would ask for the most cherished prize imaginable. Lily Evans. Lily would be his.
He needed only to wait and acquiesce to all of the Dark Lord's commands. He must endure the steps of obedience demanded of him by the Dark Lord, and fellow Death Eaters, whilst enduring the humiliation by those less worthy around him. But, vengeance would be his. James Potter, Sirius Black, even those in Slytherin, whose injurious slander and attacks on him he had undergone and survived, would one day soon be made to be sorry for everything they had ever done to him.
Which brought Severus dwelling on the expectations and requests made by the Malfoys.
Lucius and his father, Abraxas, were the forerunner supporters of Lord Voldemort, along with the Lestrange and Black families. Lucius had already been rewarded with being honored as Voldemort's top 'lieutenant' in the newly formed ranks of his followers.
Abraxas Malfoy and Voldemort's relationship dated all the way back to their schooldays at Hogwarts. And, as rumors about Abraxas' diminishing health, an incurable condition, had spread around, the appointing of Lucius in his father's stead had not surprised many.
Lucius' youth and vitality, combined with his promising future taking over the Malfoy estate, Ministerial connections, ancient family wealth and manic pureblood reputation, made him an inescapable force to be dealt with. There was no questioning the given criteria one had to meet to be included in Lucius' esoteric circle.
Severus' fate to be placed in the Slytherin House had allowed him access to a social circle that few had. His brilliant talent, keen willpower and austere demeanor had slowly brought Severus into Lucius' inner-circle. Lucius trusted Severus to be discreet. Steadfast loyalty. And, he had proven to Lucius that he was trustworthy, time and time again. Severus had never thought to second-guess Lucius in matters that concerned Lucius' private interests and affairs.
Until now. Until he had met Nagini.
Leaning against the cold stones of the wall in the dark Slytherin corridor, Severus could only, now, recollect the images from Nagini's mind that had been haunting him since he first met her.
The thought of them caused his stomach to lurch. Remembering her dire condition and circumstances the first time he saw her, and knowing that she was continually living with the possibility of unpredictable attacks from Lucius, disturbed him profoundly.
On Nagini's first day at Hogwarts, when she had been placed, surprisingly, in Ravenclaw, a part of Severus had felt relief for her. She would have some respite from Lucius.
But, now, after recent, detrimental events between Nagini and the most prestigious Ravenclaw student, Marcus Belby, had occurred, she had been re-sorted (irrespective of Dumbledore's ominous warnings) at the demands of Abraxas Malfoy and Titus Belby, the boy's Wizengamot father. Now that she was, physically, in the Slytherin house, it would be impossible for her to avoid Lucius and his intentions.
Severus knew, first-hand, that Lucius was capable of unspeakable things; he was calloused and cynical beyond his young years, with a warped sense of propriety. Having been motherless most of his life, Lucius was hardened in mind and feelings by his father from the time he could wave a wand. Both having sadistic, abusive fathers had, at first, been an unspoken empathetic basis for an intimate camaraderie and mutual understanding between Severus and Lucius. But, as both had been conditioned beforehand, by completely different environments, they channeled the attainment of, or lack of, their needs in distinctly differing ways.
How, or to what ends, Lucius and his father planned to use Nagini for their own needs was presenting itself in a foreboding manner.
Severus knew Nagini had found herself in a cesspool of inescapable iniquity.
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Severus reflected on the ending of the winter holiday break. He had accompanied Regulus Black to Diagon Alley. Being a house-guest of Regulus' that weekend, before the second term started up again at Hogwarts, they both had been invited to the Malfoy Mansion that Friday evening for a private dinner party to celebrate the engagement of Lucius Malfoy to Narcissa Black. Regulus needed to go to his family's vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank to procure Galleons for an appropriate engagement gift.
As they were entering Gringotts, Abraxas Malfoy, Lucius, and an unusual looking young witch, whom Severus had never seen before, were leaving. Upon seeing them, Abraxas immediately began to drone on about the upcoming evening's events, with Lucius standing resolute, exuding his trademark pomp and ostentatiousness; the young witch cowered behind them.
Severus was instantly drawn to Nagini. Not because of her mercurial hair and pale, Veela-like complexion, but, rather, he was drawn to the right-side of her lowered face. It was noticeably marked with a freshly made bruise and angry cut. Her lips were swollen, and she seemed to tremble in some sort of nervous state.
A lifetime of witnessing his mother's abused body and face had instantly registered with Severus. A surge of rage welled up inside him. His facial muscles became clenched and tight.
His eye swiftly caught sight of the glinting, knotty serpentine ring on Abraxas' right hand. The glittering metal, raised in layered design, instantly told Severus what had made the gash on Nagini's cheekbone.
The witch looked up. In the instant, her and Severus' eyes met. She was startled like a doe, caught in front of bright lights, her large golden orbs startled and afraid.
Uncontrollably, Severus found himself plunging inside her mind. Flashes of grotesque and distorted images swam around in his head. He started to feel lightheaded, and yet, he could not look away from her.
"Severus!" He was snapped out of his trance-like state. Severus turned to Regulus, who had called his name.
Glancing from Severus to Nagini, Abraxas chuckled. "Of course, our young Mr Snape here has been struck by our lovely Nagini. Gentlemen, may I introduce you to my niece, Nagini Malfoy. Nagini, Regulus Black, cousin to Lucius' fiancée, Narcissa Black."
"Delighted to meet you," said Regulus. He actually swept up her hand, and slightly brushed it with his lips. But, seeing her sullen reaction, he quickly let it go.
"And, this is Severus Snape. Quite a distinguished young wizard. They'll be your future Slytherin housemates. Severus is in your year, in fact."
"Honoured," Severus curtly replied, his dark eyes meeting hers. Nagini met, but didn't hold, his gaze, letting her eyes fall quickly away from his.
"My niece has traveled abroad throughout most of her young life. Regardless, she'll be an exceptional new addition to our honorable Slytherin House, as she will now be residing in England, permanently, and continuing at Hogwarts for the rest of her formal schooling. Beyond that, I daren't speculate." Then, amused by something known only to him, Abraxas added, "However, now that we have her here, I don't think we can ever let her go. Do you, Lucius?"
"Of course not, Father," Lucius replied simply. His mask-like visage unchanging.
Both Severus and Regulus had become tongue-tied. The taciturn demeanor of Nagini, along with the blatant injury on her face, had soured any pretensions for small-talk. Intuitively, they knew what, or rather, who had caused the injury, but it was an unspoken rule of etiquette never to state the obvious, and, most definitely, never to accuse Abraxas Malfoy of any wrongdoing, especially in front of his face.
"I'm afraid my niece is a little unbred for proper society, as of yet – far too shy for polite company." Noticing they seemed uncomfortable by his remark, Abraxas continued, "And, she is remarkably clumsy for one so fair. Tripped over some sharp trinkets in our vault. Rare, but, nevertheless, quite sharp," he joked benevolently. "Nipped your cheek a bit there, Nagini. Does it smart still?"
"No...it's nothing, Uncle..." Her voiced faltered.
Abraxas let out an exasperated sigh. He said, "Young witches, these days... they are always rushing about, not minding what's in front of them. So impulsive. They shouldn't get overexcited as they do. Shows an excess of impulsiveness, or greediness. Such vulgar characteristics in people. Wouldn't you agree with me, Nagini?"
Resignedly, without looking up, she said, "Yes, Uncle."
Abraxas beamed with malicious mirth. Seeming very pleased with himself, chuckling, he boasted, "I'm hoping this evening will help break her in a bit. You young men can help with that, I'm sure. You are both excellent specimens - fine examples of young wizards of the utmost calibre. Nothing but the best, for the best, I always say. Well, we must be on our way. Many things to attend to before this evening." Concluding the conversation, Abraxas offered and gave Regulus and Severus each a warm handshake.
Holding Severus' grip firmly, he said pointedly, "Any trusted friend of Regulus Black is always welcomed at Malfoy Manor. Particularly, one who has already been notedly marked for his talents. In fact," Abraxas gave them both an odd leer, "the Dark Lord has very special plans for both of you. He is quite impressed by our young Severus Snape here, and, of course, the noble Black family's loyalties go without comment.'' He smiled broadly and graciously at Regulus.
Regulus seemed suddenly anxious. He forced an appreciative smile at Abraxas. "We both can't wait for this evening, sir. We've still a few errands to run, as well, so I must excuse us. Until this evening, then." And with a final polite nod, Regulus and Severus turned and walked away, continuing into the main lobby of Gringotts.
Watching them walk away, and waiting to make sure Severus and Regulus were out of hearing distance, Lucius said quietly, "Father, we really should put a Charm on her face, at least, until we get home."
"Nonsense! She must be reminded of her impudence. If it takes public embarrassment, to help it start sinking into that thick skin of hers, the fractious errors of her ways, then, so be it!" sneered Abraxas. "See how those two didn't dare impugn my words! No one dares to question the House of Malfoy. Learn, son. Live, and learn, by my example."
He turned and glared at Nagini. "Come along, you ungrateful creature! Onward, to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions."