Bonds of Affection

The group Apparated to another remote location – near an abandoned mansion, that apparently had ant-Apparition wards on it, given that they had to walk for about five minutes to reach their destination. Their new dwelling was similar to the first in atmosphere, but smaller and simpler. The mansion looked no older than two centuries old. Voldemort had gathered them in the large room, with wooden benches and old chairs placed near the walls. All eyes were fixed on Harry, whose hand was clasping that of Severus with desperate force. Lucius had briefed them all, spitting out the words with disdain.



Bellatrix laughed in the usual harsh, grating voice, staring at Harry with gleeful hunger.



Pettigrew\'s face held a satisfied expression. “Why bother punishing him at all?” he asked with a smile. “His mind is not necessary to our plans. Let him just go insane from the mental anguish.”



Severus shrugged coldly. “Well, it will certainly save me the trouble of wielding the whip, or cleaning up the blood afterwards. I am getting too old for this.”



“Liar,” Voldemort laughed, his voice both tender and amused. “You adore this. The harsher the lash, the greater the joy.”



“Indeed,” Severus murmured agreeably. “Still, I favor duty before pleasure. Peter makes perfect sense. We cannot afford to damage his body severely if we are to preserve your Horcrux for a substantial length of time...”



Voldemort stared at Severus, unblinking. “Punish him,” he demanded in no uncertain terms. “Make him bleed. Have him suffer as much as you can. Just make sure you don\'t let him die – just yet.”



Severus nodded curtly. “Of course, My Lord.”



He placed his hands on Harry\'s shoulders and looked into his eyes. Harry smiled at him a little, and then, his eyelashes fluttered and lowered slightly. Severus gazed at him, not allowing his face to betray any expression, not daring to as much as place a kiss on his forehead at the time of the punishment. Harry saw the look in his eyes and knelt down before him, pressing lips to his hand, caressing his palm with his tongue.



“Master,” Harry whispered into his hand. “I am yours.”



Draco issued a brief laugh. “This must be the most beautiful moment of my life. Potter, begging to be punished for betraying Our Lord...”



Lucius chuckled as well. “Stranger than fiction, as Muggles say.”



Severus withdrew his hand from Harry\'s lips abruptly and ordered, “On your feet. Strip.”



Harry complied instantly, shedding his clothes without any hesitation, revealing the slender body that still bore faded marks from the day before. A moment later, Harry stood, fully disrobed, in full view of the sneering, contemptuous faces of others. He never even glanced at any of them, as if they were not even there. His eyes were fixed on Severus, looking to him for direction.



Lucius came up and stood in front of Harry, surveying him with satisfaction.



“I will get you started,” he told Severus smugly. His wand pointing at the ceiling, Lucius uttered a series of spells, that resulted in two lengths of chain coming down, with shackles attached to the end of them.



“Thank you,” Severus said evenly, and then, nodded to Harry.



Harry lifted his arms obediently, restraints coming to encircle his wrists and lock around them of their own accord.



Then, Lucius came close, and before Severus could open his mouth to utter a single word, took off Severus\' robe, and folded on his arm. He then removed Severus\' overshirt and undershirt, stripping him down to his waist. “Just like the old days,” Lucius whispered intimately, stroking the old scars on his torso. “Nothing to constrict your movement... nothing to interfere.” He carried his clothing away, piling it in another corner of the room.



Severus cursed mentally, as a sickening knot of tension formed and grew inside him. He had been planning to use a few soundless spells to ease the experience for Harry – but with his wand across the room, it was no longer possible.



Another spell from Lucius, and Severus saw that he was holding something... something dreadfully familiar to him, but something that Harry had never seen before, not even back at the Manor. It was a whip with a sturdy handle, and eight leather tails; but the tips of two of the tails had sharp pieces of metal embedded into them. Lucius grasped the leather tails in his fist and brought them to Harry\'s face, dragging them along his cheek, allowing the metal to leave faint scratches on Harry\'s skin.



“We call this the Scorpion,” Lucius said in a voice that was both sinister and intimate. “You know why? Six legs, two claws. It will cut through your skin, through your muscle... it will chip away at your bones. In wrong hands, it could easily kill you – but you should feel comforted by the thought that Severus is an expert at using this tool. Several years of practice, you know.” Lucius patted Harry\'s head affectionately. “Let\'s see how the little duckling deals with a few scorpion bites,” he chuckled.



Severus nodded absently, surveying Harry\'s body in a calculating way.



“Thirty-five,” Lucius demanded. “Five weeks of disloyalty... One lash for every day of unconfessed betrayal in your household... actually, might as well make it forty.”



“Might as well,” Severus echoed absently, and ran his hands over Harry\'s body, fingers probing his back, chest, buttocks, and thighs, trying to guess where the lash would be least likely to cause damage. He almost swore under his breath, seeing how unbelievably lean that body was – some muscle, not an ounce of fat, ribs visible at the sides, spine and shoulderblades protruding visibly and vulnerably. As much as restraints allowed him, Harry arched his back out, and pressed himself into Severus\' hand.



Without further deliberation, Severus took the scorpion whip from Lucius and took a step back, coming to step behind Harry. A moment later, the first lash that fell on Harry\'s back. The metal tips tore through his skin effortlessly, cutting across the faded welts from the previous night, and blood began to trickle down instantly. Harry issued a loud gasp, and grasped the restraints for support. Severus delivered several more lashes, masking his dismay at every pair of cuts across Harry\'s skin, at every shudder from his body, at every groan and violent hiss of pain falling from his lips. Lucius was watching the scene with a contented smile.



When Severus decided that Harry\'s back and shoulders could no longer withstand another blow, he moved the punishment to his buttocks, and then, to his thighs, and legs. The metal tips cut through the top of his legs, and Harry finally cried out loud, and then, continued crying out with every blow.



Severus heard a sharp, loud laughter.. He turned around to see his godson, leaning back in his chair.



“Enjoying yourself?” Bellatrix inquired with a noxious sneer on her face.



Draco flashed her a crooked smile. “Not as much as I would be if I were doing it myself, but – yes.”



“Don\'t get distracted now, Severus,” Lucius purred. “You still have eight more to deliver.”



Severus turned away, and walked around, coming face to face with Harry. Harry glanced at him painfully. Sweat was running from his brow, mingling with tears streaming from his eyes. His lower lip was bleeding from him biting through it. Severus shuddered inwardly, as the knot of tension inside him burst, becoming a web of terror that ensnared his entire being.



I love you, Harry mouthed soundlessly. Severus felt his heart clench with dread and guilt.



“Make him scream,” Lucius demanded.



Severus struck against Harry\'s chest, quick blows leaving deep red trails in the previously unmarked skin. Harry screamed, and continued to scream without ceasing, even as Severus delivered the remaining lashes.



The last hoarse cry died in Harry\'s throat, and Severus tossed the scorpion whip on the floor. Harry hung limp in his restrains, sobbing with every breath he took. Heavy drops of blood were falling rapidly on the floor under his feet.



In silence, Severus went to the corner of the room, and began to dress. The undershirt, the overshirt, and then, the robe again. Across the room, Lucius was releasing Harry from the restraints. Harry stood on his feet, unsteadily, and then, a few seconds later, fell to his knees with a sharp cry.



Lucius lifted Harry off the floor by the elbow. “I\'ll go lock him up downstairs,” Lucius said, turning to Severus. “You can heal him at your convenience. Right after this, Bellatrix and I will be leaving to prepare the new place. Peter, Draco, keep an eye on the entrance - even though the lockdown will only be taken off for a few minutes when we leave, and when we return, I don\'t want to take any chances.”



“Naturally,” Peter said quietly. Draco nodded and both he and Pettigrew left, heading towards the doorway.



Keeping his face absolutely impassive, Severus leaned back in the chair, and waited for Lucius and Bellatrix to leave the mansion – so he could go downstairs and heal Harry. It was only him and Voldemort in the room, and Voldemort\'s eyes were open, unblinking, and lifeless– as if he had fallen asleep forgetting to shut his eyes.



Suddenly, Severus felt a touch of a small hand on his elbow. He shuddered and turned his head sharply, to see Luna Lovegood\'s form standing in front of him. He opened his mouth, but she shook her head.



“Shhh,” she said. “Don\'t talk out loud. Just listen. You have to leave when Lucius and Bellatrix do. This is your only chance.”



No, he said wordlessly. I need to stay behind, and heal Harry.



She looked at him sadly. “No. You don\'t need to heal him. You need to visit his grave.”



Severus shook his head. This is insane.



She laughed quietly. “You are just as sane as I am,” she told him.



I can\'t leave anymore, Severus thought. My bond to Voldemort will kill me when I leave his sphere of influence.



“It should kill you,” she said. “But it won\'t. Voldemort isn\'t your life. Your beloved is.”



She was standing right next to him, her blond hair falling on her face, half-obscuring her eyes. He reached out to touch her, but his hand passed right through her. “Do it,” she said.



He stood up abruptly and exited the room. The hallway was deserted. Quickly, Severus cast several invisibility spells on all of his clothing, and pulled his robe over his head.



“Good,” Luna said softly. “Now wait.”



He waited. Lucius and Bellatrix returned shortly, and headed towards the exit, Lucius lifting the lockdown wards. Soundlessly, Severus followed both of them out of the mansion, unseen by either of them, or by Pettigrew and Draco who were guarding the doorway.



Outside, the sun had set, and the cold evening breeze was rustling the grass and the leaves on the trees.



Lucius and Bellatrix walked away from the mansion together, and Severus heard the faint sound of the lockdown wards snapping back in place, making it impossible for him to return – not until the lockdown was lifted again to allow Lucius and Bellatrix back into the mansion.



Severus felt a wave of nausea and panic hit, as it dawned on him that he had just abandoned Harry, bleeding, gravely injured, in the hands of the enemy... just to follow the voice of his hallucination.



In front of him, Luna was gazing at him serenely. “Go,” she urged him. “His grave is waiting.”



... To Be Continued ...