The Slave

OK, latest chapter. Probably ought to carry a gang-bang warning. Not strictly non-con though.

I can't guarantee any updates in the immediate future owing to the unwelcome arrival of exams, but I'll do what I can.
____________________

"You betrayed me."

Snape shook his head, unable to speak, unable to explain. It had been over two years since Dumbledore had requested his Potions Professor's presence in his office.


####flashback####

"I was wondering if you could do something for me, Severus." Snape narrowed his eyes at the tone of Dumbledore's voice. The implication was that whatever 'something' was was was unlikely to like it. "It has to do with...Lucius Malfoy."

Snape forced down the gasp of horror which wanted to leap from his throat, as well as the bitter bile that followed. Dumbledore had always been tolerant of his nighttime excursions before now, and Severus was afraid of what had caused the ancient wizard to change his mind so suddenly.

Dumbledore raised a bushy eyebrow, as if reading the younger man's thoughts. "Severus, you have access to the Malfoy Manor as no others do. Lucius Malfoy trusts you, at least to some extent. And as the Death Eaters grow in power, he is one of the most dangerous men in the wizarding world. We need someone to keep watch on him. We need someone to keep us informed of his activities, he latest plans, his newest accomplices."

"And who, may I ask, is 'we'?" Severus asked without flinching. He closed his expression, not wanting to Dumbledore to guess at the anxieties and mixed emotions he was experiencing. His loyalty was may not lie entirely with Lucius, in spite of the wizard's beliefs to the contrary, but nor was Snape entirely comfortable with Dumbledore. He trusted the ancient wizard, of course - Dumbledore had a calm, contemplative demeanour that invited confidence, and must be kinder than any other person Severus had met, including his own parents. But at the same time he feared Albus Dumbledore, just a little. Feared his power, feared the authority he could command, feared his wisdom. He was wary of even thinking in the great man's presence, should Dumbledore chance to pick up those thoughts and find out things that Severus preferred not to share. And so, in Albus Dumbledore's company, he was eternally wary.

"We? Myself. All those who stood against Voldemort the last time he came to power." Albus dropped his voice. "Severus, you assured us that you bore no more allegiance to the Dark Lord. Do you still maintain that?"

Snape's mouth was dry. He nodded once, slowly.

Dumbledore continued, "Are you prepared to do this? I unserstand, of course, that this is a betrayal of your master - but in doing this you can aid in the protection of hundreds - thousands, even - of others." Dumbledore was the only one who seemed to cling to the belief that Snape possessed that precious, illusive quality of compassion. Severus raised an eyebrow.

He swallowed. He inhaled steadily. He straightened his robes. "Yes," he replied after a long moment of thought.

Dumbledore smiled to himself and stroked his long, grey-white beard.

########


"You belong to *me*. When our Lord returned, I expected to see you standing at my side. I expected you to take your place in the circle with the rest of us. I expected you not to shame the Death Eaters. Severus, your betrayal will cost you dearly."

Severus knelt before his master, shaking. The sweat on his back felt so cold it could have formed ice crystals on his pale skin. He had never feared Lucius in this way before. Predatory games or the occasional burning rage; Snape had seen it all. Whatever thoughts may come to him when he lay (or hung) on the edge of desperation, consumed by the need within him, when Lucius pushed him still further beyond his perceived limits, he always knew, in the end, that his master respected how much he could truly withstand. Lucius sometimes seemed to know Snape's capabilities better than he did himself, ever exhibiting the most spectacular control when it came to the treatment of his slave.

This time, though...Severus had never sees mas master like this. Lucius's voice was so soft as to be barely more than a whisper, yet it dripped with venom and echoed sibilantly in the dark room. "Yes, Severus, I atremtremely displeased."

The beating today had taken place in silence - Lucius had delivered it with an air of disinterest, as if it were just another household chore. It had still brought responses from Snape's body, but he had not orgasmed; and this did not seem to concern Lucius.

Now, a rough jerk on the leash forced Severus to rise, the unkind tug causing short-lived agony to flare across his chest. He led towards the hard pallet, and this time there was no slack in the cord that ran from the ring in his nipple to Lucius's long, pale hand. He was ordered to lie down on his back; his wrists were restrained in heavy manacles, but Lucius did not secure his ankles. Tilting his head, as if considering his planned actions, he stroked his slave to hardness, making no effort to be either subtle or sensual about doing so. Then, with cold, emotionless eyes, he slid a ring on to the base of Snape's erection, tightening the screw on its rim until the pressure was enough to deny him release indefinitely.

Closing his eyes, Severus wondered what Lucius intended now. For a long moment, he lay tensely on the cold surface, forcing his breathing to slow, listening to the sound of Lucius's footsteps as he crossed the room to fetch his implement of choice. Snape initially thought it was a paddle that smacked against his hip with a stinging slap, but it was too flexible, the pain more like the bite of a lash than the blunter sting of one of Lucius's paddles. He opened his eyes and raised his head slightly, and saw that Malfoy was spanking him with a pair of thick leather gloves.

The pain was easily bearable - if anything, inadequate. Severus had grown to anticipate punishments far harsher than this. Lucius was thorough, flicking the gloves again and again against every square inch of his exposed flesh, but he was, by his usual standards, positively gentle - playful, even. Much like he had been at the beginning of their relationship, as a preparation for Snape's early 'lessons'. It left his skin reddened and sensitive to touch, but Severus was barely aroused by it.

Heat and slippery moisture teased his navel, tracing circles on his stomach, and now Snape's breath hissed through his teeth in surprise. Lucius had never before used his tongue on his slave. Severus, of course, had been ordered to do so to Malfoy many times, and had willingly complied, but this reciprocation... A warm gust of exhaled air tickled his hypersensitive skin, just as light fingers danced on the insides of his thighs, caressing old scars.

Snape felt pressure build in his groin, but was also made instantly aware of the restraint of the cock-ring. Lucius dragged one slender finger from base to tip; Severus could not help but tip back his head and moan. A fierce kiss was pressed to his hip, and then Lucius stepped back.

Severus writhed and arched his back, eyes pleading for attention. Lucius shook his head. Turning away, he murmured, "Later."

It was indeed later. Lucius ignored him for longer than he thought possible, before returning to torment him once more to overwhelming arousal, and then coldly turning his back once again. Whenever Severus thought that perhaps the desire would subside of its own accord, skilful fingers and lips returned, giving him just enough stimulation to keep him close to the edge.

It seemed to continue like this for hours.

Maybe it did.

"Now," Lucius purred, finally, "would my slave like to be finished?"

Snape could not form a coherent word, but a small whimper slipped from his lips.

"If you wish to be finished, you must do something for me." He toyed absently with Severus's nipple ring, twisting slightly and smiling as it made his slave's eyes go wide. "The others know of your treachery. They would like...retribution." He paused momentarily. "As would I."

Snape recoiled from his master. His lips repeated the word, but no sound came. "Retribution?"

"You have proven that yoe noe not loyal to me, therefore you cannot possibly be only/ po/ possession. I thought perhaps you would like to share yourself with others?" The mocking manner in which Lucius's lip curled, identical to that which Severus had seen a hundred times in son, Draco, caused Snape to narrow his eyes. As if to remind him of the choices, a thumbnail scraped oh-so-lightly across the head of his desperate arousal.

"End..." he whispered. Would his fate at the others' hands (or other body parts) be so, so terrible, in comparison to this unending torture? Lucius, he knew, had almost indefinite stamina - this could go on for a day, or longer, if the powerful Death Eater felt sufficiently inclined.

Malfoy nodded, and brought Snape's knees up to his chest. He produced oil from somewhere - Severus did not know where, nor did he particularly care as a slick finger touched his tense opening. The preparation he received from his master was more extensive than any Snape had known previously. "You shall need it," Lucius muttered as the third finger slid inside him, flexing and reaching for the point inside Severus that tore wanton groans from him. All too soon, they withdrew, leaving Severus empty and aching for satisfaction.

Lucius's strong hand closed round Snape's bicep, and he was pulled, firmly yet not unkindly, first into a sitting position, and then to his feet. Severus was unsteady, his mind still fogged from his previous ordeal; a hand at the base of his spine gave him just enough support to find his balance.

"Walk," Lucius whispered in his ear, and he obeyed automatically. He was guided up steps, along a narrow, empty corridor, up another staircase. This one was winding, narrow and almost pitch black; no torches illuminated the rough walls.

Somehow, he ended up in a dimly-lit room that he had not seen before. He was distantly aware of a smell of heady incense, and heavy drapes excluded draughts. Ten or a dozen figures were seated in the room, on cushions round the edge. As master and slaved entered, they rose as one.

"Look at them," Lucius hissed to Snape. "Look at the ones whom you should have stood beside." Snape blinked and focused. All the Death Eaters were identically clad in ankle-length black capes, and wore velvet masks that showed only their eyes. They moved so as to form a circle around the two newcomers, advancing a couple of steps closer with a whisper of thick fabric.

Snape was ordered to kneel, which he did, meek and unquestioning as ever. Lucius reached down and brushed his fingertips once more over Severus's erection, then kissed his hot, dry lips - the kiss of a lover, not a master. "You will let them take you as they will?" he asked again, his voice pitched for Snape's ears alone.

"Yes, Master," was the quiet reply.

Lucius addressed him in a harsh tone now. "Bend over the cushions. Keep your head down and do not resist."

The fine silk of the cushion was smooth under his burning cheeks; his fists closed tightly on the tasselled corners. He felt a hand between his legs and the screw was loosened, the ring removed. He sighed, knowing release was now not far away.

Release - perhaps. Rest - never.

***

Again, thanks to the reviewers. More coming as soon as I can!