Eye of the Beholder

Author’s Note

Chapter 21. Plotting Revenge
Lucius was sitting in an oversized, brown leather chair in his study. His pale, watery eyes stared out of the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking over the Malfoy lands. He watched the snow-covered lawn travel for miles. It was a beautiful, blue morning, and the sun was glinting off the pure white snow. The glare hurt his eyes, and he turned away, swiveling in his chair.
 
He was tired, as he had been up for hours. He woke up late in the night, sweating and shaking, still under the influences of his nightmare. He dreamed of Voldemort, and of the night he was tortured after accusing Snape of turning traitor to the Dark Lord. Lucius could still feel the lingering pain of the curse course through his body. He remembered the way his whole body had seized, all of his muscles contracting at once, even the smooth muscle tissues of his viscera. It felt like someone was ripping his body apart, in every direction. Almost like having a Charlie- horse in every inch of his body that would not relax. Almost, but not quite. It was worse. His torture had lasted almost 15 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. In the back of his mind, Lucius knew that was nothing. Voldemort had kept up Snape’s torture for over an hour, just letting up briefly at intervals when he passed out.
 
Lucius remembered with shame how the other Death Eaters had witnessed his personal humiliation. While he was subjected to the torture, they watched as his lips pulled back, revealing perfect, white teeth. How his eyes had bugged out, and his back had arched with the muscle contractions until he was balanced on just the tip of his head and toes. When his guts cramped up, it forced the feces from his body until he soiled his elegant clothing. Lucius ground his teeth together in anger at the memory. And it was all Snape’s fault.
 
Lucius’s fingers curled into the leather of the chair arms, making deep indents. There is nothing he wanted more than to make Snape suffer for his humiliation. Even if Lord Voldemort had cleared him, and Lucius was wrong in his suspicions, he still wanted Snape to suffer in retribution.nbspnbsp;
He closed his eyes. What was the best way to get back at Snape, he thought. Obviously, it was not something physical. If Snape could endure the tortuous curses under Voldemort’s administrations longer than anybody he had ever heard of and lived, then physical pain was not the route. He had to find a different chink in Snape’s armor. Something mental, or emotional perhaps.
 
Or both, Lucius thought with an evil grin. Of course - Snape’s little crumpet. What er wer way to shake him up than to let him know this little chit was the very same girl he walked away from, years ago? If Snape had had enough guts to stop Avery from his little temper tantrum way back when, then maybe then she would not have ended up disfigured, as she was now.
 
Lucius laughed out loud at the potential of pitting the girl against Snape. If she had any feelings for him, they would quickly turn to hate if she knew Snape was a coward, and was indirectly the cause of her disfigurement. Snape would be crushed at the rejection, especially if he was learning for the first time that this was the same child he could have saved.
 
Alternatively, Lucius thought, he could simply invite the chit to the next Dark Revel. It would be pitifully easy to kidnap the girl, since he knew she would be at Hogwarts this Christmas. Lucius would love to see the look of shock and horror on Snape’s face if he walked in to the Malfoy dungeons to see her tied to on the the Dark Revel torture tables. Maybe he could somehow force Snape to attend to her, Lucius thought. Now that would be amusing. Or even better, he thought. Make Snape stand by and watch while Avery had a go at her with his shiny metal instruments. It would be like old times, Lucius thought. A sort of replay of what almost happened years ago, in a field just outside of London....
 
Lucius would have to be careful, however. Avery tended to get a bit out of control. While they happened to loose a few unfortunates every Revel, most survived. After their experiences, they generally had strong memory charms placed on them and sent home. Some of the Muggles even tried to suggest they were abducted by aliens in some sort of effort to justify the bruises and physical damage they suffered. Pathetic, ignorant Muggles, Lucius thought.
 
No, it would be more satisfying to Lucius if Snape were forced to interact with the girl if she had no memory of the torture, but Snape had a full understanding of what had happened to her. Lucius would love to be a fly on the wall if Snape ever built up the nerve to reveal to her what had happened. And try to explain why Snape had never prevented it from happening.
 
To make Snape live with himself after that would be worthy of the time and effort of setting this up, Lucius decided. A vague plan had started to take shape in the back of his mind. Lucius turned to look back out the window. Maybe today would not be a bad day after all, he tho.?¨ .