Blackeyed Girl

@Koolgirl18: I believe Snape is not a nice man. Yes he loved Lily but in his life he has experienced nothing but rejection from his parents, from the girl he loved … I think that can make a person very harsh and cold and mean. It’s tragic really but yeah, it makes him an asshole.

As far as Lucius is concerned, there is not much tragedy there, he is just deliciously bad ;)

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Chapter 27

A Whisper in the Dark



Snape had fed Eleanor a calming potion that dozed her into a light sleep and put her back to bed in his lab where she had stayed once before when she recovered from the Vampire bite. This time he wished she would recover also. If he only knew what she was hopefully recovering from! He was irritated, irritated with not knowing what he should do, not knowing what had happened. He was annoyed with the Trio and most of all with Phoebe. It seemed to him that they all didn\'t really care, did not understand the severity of the situation. -Because if they did they would try harder to remember, to say something useful!



Dumbledore and him had spent all day talking to them, one after another. The Trio had been irritating to talk to, or to listen to rather. But Dumbledore had made sure they remained on the subject of what had happened to Eleanor after she had left. But it seemed no use. Miss Granger had been the only one to say anything that seemed to matter, which was that Eleanor had appeared to be emotionally in turmoil when she met with them. They decided to ask Draco about his afternoon with Eleanor but Draco was even less helpful. He seemed to feel accused to having caused her irritation when asked about it and closed off entirely, refusing to give any information on the day he spend with Eleanor in the village. And Phoebe... well, Phoebe of course was eager to help, only there was not much more helpful to discover in her story of the evening.



This fact made it all so much more annoying that Dumbledore still had asked her to stay another night. Snape had never wanted her to be part of his life at Hogwarts. She was part of his life that he admitted to when darkness fell. And now she was here, invited to stay by Dumbledore. She was in his face and acting like that loveable, honourable girl that she probably was... but that he never cared to get to know... to see in the light.



“Listen, I know you don\'t want me here”, she said to him suddenly when they stood together at Eleanor\'s bed and Dumbledore had just left to do some more research on what to do next, “I guess I just...” she composed herself and tried again, looking up into his eyes which she usually avoided, “I don\'t want to loose y.. what we have. If this is too damaging... then I will leave but I...”



“You are enjoying it.”



“What?”



“You enjoy being here. You enjoy the feeling of being of help to me in a different way then before. And I do not enjoy that.”



She looked hurt: “I\'m sorry. But this isn\'t about us. This is about her... your ward.”



“What do you care about her?”



Phoebe hesitated: “She\'s close to you. What ever is close to you is.... close to me.”



“DON\'T!”, Snape hissed and Phoebe stepped back instinctively.



“Dumbledore thinks I can still be of help”, she mumbled.



“Dumbledore....”, Snape only growled. He had a feeling that Dumbledore knew exactly of what kind his relationship with Phoebe Hale was and that he was keeping Phoebe around for a different reason than his actual believe that she might still be able to remember some helpful detail from that night.



“You have no idea what Dumbledore thinks, who are you to know anything? Squib!”



Her face grew paler and she looked away: “Like I said, if you need me to leave I will just leave...”



“How very generous of you. And what do I tell the Headmaster? That I kicked you out of his castle because I hate you?”



“You hate me?”



Snape hesitated and considered her, then he said quietly: “I don\'t care enough about you to hate you.”



Phoebe inhaled slowly, gazing past him: “I will go”, she said simply and left.



She walked fast down the dungeon, not really sure which way the staircase was but didn\'t really care right now, she just had to get away from him, get some physical distance. Being near him just hurt too much when he was throwing nothing but coldness and cruelty at her. Finally she had no idea where she was and stopped, catching her breath. Now that she allowed herself to breath she felt tears coming over her, she could not stop them. She looked around in alarm if there was anyone around who would see her, but the dungeons seemed deserted. She let the darkness of the next alcove swallow her and sat down on a stone bench, letting tears overwhelm her.



“Well, I was gonna say this corner is already taken, but never mind, I can find another one”, said a voice from next to her. Phoebe gasped and looked around. It had been so dark and she had been in such a rush that she had not noticed a person already sitting there. It was the blond boy who she had seen the day before when Severus and the Headmaster questioned him. He was Eleanor\'s boyfriend.



He had gotten up and Phoebe quickly turned her face towards the wall, embarrassed to be recognised, but it was too later.



The boy stood there, looking at her: “You\'re that girl from the village. You\'re Snape\'s girlfriend.”



Phoebe gasped a harsh laugh but went silent instantly again.



“What\'s wrong?” Draco asked simply after watching her for a moment, “did your boyfriend upset you?” he joked nastily.



“He\'s not my boyfriend”, she said very quietly.



“Okay... So you\'re here because of Eleanor\'s situation?” he seemed to hesitate, then he asked: “She showed up at your house that night? Do you know what happened to her?”



“No I don\'t. I would have told them if I knew, wouldn\'t I?”



Draco shrug: “Was just thinking... somehow I thought maybe Snape is keeping the truth from me...”



“No, he doesn\'t know. None of them know”, she dried her eyes and looked up at him, “but if you care about her, why were you not more helpful? Severus said you were just all attitude. Maybe your information could have helped.”



“I doubt that. We separated after lunchtime and she was fine then. There were hours after that, hours after she hang out with scar-boy and his friends, where something must have happened to her. Who knows, maybe Potter and his friends had something to do with it. I think that is most likely, they were the last to see her before you found her after all.”



“But you and Eleanor had a fight or something like that? She was upset when you separated?”



Draco shrugged: “It wasn\'t a fight. I didn\'t cause this!”



“I didn\'t say you did. But maybe she was so upset when she left that she did something silly? I\'m just guessing. I\'m just saying, anything you know might be important.”



Draco considered.



“You really like her?”, Phoebe asked.



“Yes... I think so...”



Phoebe smiled softly at him: “That\'s nice. And that means a lot already. You are young, it\'s okay not to be certain, just enjoy it. What\'s important is if you do like her you should help her if you can.”



Draco seemed to be thinking, then he said: “I don\'t know... I talked to my father about marriage. I thought... but I don\'t know any more. Things were strange when we went for lunch together.”



“How strange?”



“Well, that\'s why we fought. Believes and stuff.... father was being more open to her strange thoughts than I was... I am the one who is supposed to excuse her controversial view points and defend them in front of my parents, instead she just annoyed me and my father was the one smoothing things out. That\'s why she left lunch I guess. I like her but... maybe we are not a good match.”



“Maybe not... or maybe you are but you just have to figure out if you like her enough to be willing to work through the differences. You like her, that\'s a good start.” she added a bit sadly, thinking of how Snape felt about her. She was hopelessly alone in her relationship with him and she knew it.



After Draco left her she sat by herself for a while and then decided to go back. Part of her wanted to leave so she could keep what ever thin thread of a connection she had with Severus but the other much bigger part wanted to play this out, stay near him here where they could be together without her instantly being forced over a table top. Maybe there was hope somewhere in this, too?



She knocked on the door but did not wait to be asked in. When she entered Snape was standing by Eleanor\'s bed again, his right hand pressed to her forehead. Phoebe tried not to be intrusive and spoke quietly: “I think you should speak again with her boyfriend, Draco. He might still know something he did not share.”



Snape didn\'t look up: “I thought you were leaving.”



“I changed my mind.”



“Was I not clear enough?”



“No, you were very clear”, she paused, then continued, “we have nothing. I\'m your whore, that\'s all. I know.”



Snape looked up. They had never named what they had. She had never been so direct before.



“There is nothing I can save by leaving, I might as well not care what you feel, like you don\'t care what I feel. And I might as well stay like the Headmaster asked me to, to help Eleanor if I can. I think you should talk to Draco again.”



“I know he\'s no good for her”, said Snape, deciding to ignore her comments on their relationship, “ but after all the Potter gang saw her last, not Draco, and she was still herself when she was with them. I\'m considering interrogating Mr Potter again.”



Phoebe shrugged and looked down at Eleanor who was still sleeping under the influence of the potion.



“I don\'t think Draco is bad for her. He likes her.”



“What would you know about that?”



“He told me he does and I can tell. He is truly bothered by the fact that his father defended her in front of him rather than the other way around.”



Snape looked up at her: “What are you talking about?”



“They fought about stuff at lunch with his father and he was the one...”



“Lucius was in Hogsmeade?”



“What?”



Snape grabbed her arm and shook her: “Did you say Lucius Malfoy was in Hogsmeade that day?”



“His father? Yes, Draco told me he and Eleanor met him for lunch.”



“Go get Dumbledore. Tell him it was Lucius. He did it again.”



“What do you think his father did? What do you mean “again”?”



“Do it!! Get Dumbledore here! Now!”



Phoebe hesitated, confused, but then turned around and left for the Headmaster\'s Office.



“Damn you, Lucius. I knew it was you all along... just how long have you been hiding this in her...”

He sighed. He pulled his wand and pointed it at her.



“Legilimens!” he said and forced himself into her mind.



There was blackness and silence. He waited, remained persisted. He had not yet encountered that wall that would push him back out of her mind like last time but he could sense it was there. Perhaps it did not act against the intrusion so violently because she was drugged. He remained, trying to probe deeper but there it was, that wall, like solid stone and around it was black empty silence. But he did not give up, he just remained, not boring too harshly for more, just remaining and then he could hear whispering... and whimpering, crying from very far away, the crying seemed to come from miles away while the whisper seemed so intrusively close, like it was right in Snape\'s ear and yet he could not make out what the voice was saying, but he knew the voice he knew that whisper.



“Lucius”, Snape hissed.



“Severus? Stop it.”



Without hesitation Snape pulled out of Eleanor\'s mind as he heard Dumbledore\'s calm but series voice behind him, -so much more real than the irritating whisper.



He turned around and Dumbledore was standing there with Phoebe looking at him intensely.



“What happened? How do you know it was Lucius?”



Snape lowered his wand: “Draco told Phoebe that he and Eleanor met with him for lunch that day in the village”, he paused, “it was him, Albus, I could hear him in her mind.”



Dumbledore focused: “Did you get past the wall? Did you see what happened?”



“No. The wall is still in place but it didn\'t push me out... there was nothing but... he was there. He did something to her. He abused her. We have to have her examined.”



Dumbledore hesitated as he searched his eyes then he nodded: “Al right Severus. I think it is time to take her to St. Mungos.”



That same evening Eleanor was taken to St. Mungos. Dumbledore insisted Snape should take Phoebe along for support. Snape had no idea what this support could possibly be but he agreed.



The gynaecological specialists performed a few spells and soon could verify that Eleanor had had recent sexual intercourse. Phoebe looked up at Snape at the news.



“It doesn\'t proof anything, you know that, right? Maybe her and Draco....”



“I didn\'t ask you for your opinion!” snapped Snape who was brooding.



“It\'s not my opinion, it\'s a fact”, said Phoebe quietly then she started thinking, “though, now that I think of it... it makes sense that she was raped.”



Snape turned around to her in a sudden motion and only stared.



“She said... when she was all strange that night and going crazy... she said \'Don\'t do it! I\'ll tell them you were here!\' she was begging and she begged \'Don\'t make me forget.\'



Snape focused then he said: “I need you to stay with her while I go to see someone.”



“Who are you going to see?”



“It\'s time I look an old friend in the eye.”