The Legacy of the Dark Lord

For the entire voyage, he held me tightly against the cool night wind. The heat emanating from his body kept me very warm in the very thin slip of a dress.

We swept above the countryside. Whispering green grasses swayed in the light wind. Below the boughs of the trees, nestled miniscule houses alight with soft white below the shingles. Yet we were far above the muggle world, dissolving ourselves in the mystique that became the night.

As we approached a clearing deep into the heart of the wood, Severus slowed and began to descend. It was a rather large clearing, with seemingly no paths leading in either direction out of it. From the distance, it bore a striking resemblance to the American baseball diamond—small, dusty, and barren.

After we dropped below the treetops, a small stone castle appeared in front of my very eyes. Gorgeous bastions lined the outer walls and ancient ivy crept up the stone façade, webbing the entire exterior in a green latticework of leaf and vine. The central fortress stood completely hidden by the high outer walls. The stained glass windows, tall and lean, overshadowed the interior, making it impossible to peer inside.

“This is simply encing,ing, Severus! A real castle! I know you said that it was a little place but—as compared to what? Hogwarts?” My eyes stayed wide as we landed. It resembled a gigantic fortress with buttresses of hand-carved stone and mortar.

“I had hoped you would be comfortable here. It has taken a long time to have it built. The muggle workers weren’t very expedient in their labors. However, I am quite satisfied with the final product.”
Upon dismounting his broom and tucking it under his arm, he withdrew his wand and edged towards the lanterns along the pathway. As he approached, the lanterns alighted his path, his cloak billowing behind him.

I followed, in the midst of my Master. “You will notice that the castle is under magical influence, however, it does not respond to anyone but myself. This keeps wandering Death Eaters from pursuing me into its’ depths.”

“Ah, yes, and it will be instructed as to your arrival to respond accordingly. We would not want any unfortunate accidents here.”

As he reached the front door, it disappeared to allow Severus to enter. He paused in the jamb, just long enough to say, “Mistress Michele, Lady of the House”. It appeared he spoke to the very house itself because, in response the walls rumbled, shaking the ground on which we stood.

“If you wish to have anyone else enter with you, you will need to tap your wand on the door jamb once for each person you wish to enter behind you. This is a safety measure that ensures that no one is able to follow you in unless you wish them to,” he noted.

Stepping inside the door, he threw his cloak in the air before him. The silken black cloak soared through the air. He flicked his wand dismissing the cloak to the cloak rack on the other side of the room.

“Accio trunk” I called behind me with a swoosh of my wand. My Hogwarts trunk appeared on the floor next to the door. I stepped inside the threshold and behind me; the thick wooden door appeared again, shutting me in the house.

The room around me lay in darkness, except for the soft flickering in the depths of the fireplace. There were only two items of furniture in the small room. One of them was a large wooden table, made simply and lacking ornate designs. The other was a large settee, embellished with woven black and gold silken strands on the seat and braced in a decorative wooden frame.

Severus leaned upon the desk with both hands balled in loose fists. A new stack of parchment lay between them, on which the top sheet laid a short note in scratchy handwriting. His face contorted to a snippy sneer as he read. His eyebrows furrowed in loathing.

“It would seem that Lucius is already aware of our little jaunt this evening. Apparently, Draco sent him a late owl, speaking of our intent and the matter of your family’s acceptance of me. It would appear that Lucius is waitfor for me to fall. Interestingly enough, he speaks of your mum and pop as he would of the Dark Lord. It would also appear that your parents are well known, Michele… He concludes by stating that you are to be made aware that you missed your last report to your parents and Lucius has been appointed to the duty of keeping close tabs on you from now on.”

“Yes… I do believe I had been in the Hospital wing at the time of my last expected report but, there is time for that matter later,” I said, slinking up to him from behind. Still poised over his desk, reading the parchment, he did not feel me until I stood inches away from his ear. “I believe there are far more pressing issues on my mind right now…”

My arms encircled his waistline. With a deliberate slowness, I splayed my fingers across his trim stomach, rubbing them in small circles, and inched lower and lower. One by one, I slipped the buttons of his shirt open. Inch by inch, I prodded his slacks until they crumpled to the stone floor. “Feel me, Severus…” I taunted in his ear.

Severus closed his eyes to bask in the pleasure of my zealous advances. Feeling his body stiffen profoundly, I ran my fingers through his tousled hair. I brushed my lips to his ear. He tilted his head sidelong, edging his cheek to my ear and panting in low, hallow gasps. I eased my wand down his bare chest. “Can Sevy come out and play?” I asked coyly.

He reached bd, ld, lacing his fingers in mine. Pulling them to his chest, he guided them deliberately lower until my hands found his own wand, long and sleek. Letting my fingertips just graze it, I met no subterfuge and no resistance.

“Why must you be so damn irresistible?” he moaned in a deep rumble.

I toyed with his wand—alternating between light grazes and firm pressure, which seemed to send sharp bolts of arousal through his perceptive frame.

Dispensing a kittenish snicker, I backed away a few feet. He finally whirled round to pursue me but I pointed my wand at him to give him pause. He halted mid-step, to watch, his lightless eyes ruffling slightly.

Poising my wand just above my head, I traced tiny tornados in the air. “Wingardium jettra” I spoke. From the tip, a frosty blue lit the air and followed my wand through the tornados. The wind around us gusted and flapped my gown above my waist.

Severus curled the corners of his mouth, emitting an alluring smile. His white shirt draped off his shoulders and his silky black boxers slipped to the earth below. Without ever revoking his determined glare, he strode over to me, reaching under the wind-blown white skirt. Feeling his way up my inner thigh, he edged closer yet, until his smooth skin penetrated my thighs.

My flesh burned, toes curled, breath halted as he tore his slender fingers through my long hair, clutching the back of my neck and compelling his waxen lips to mine. A haughty mix of lust and defiance distorted his features, twisting them into raging infernos. I coiled my bare legs around his and draped my arms over his shoulders. His serpentine hips pulsed, hoisting me upwards as he drove.

A rugged pressure pierced my lip, teasing my mind with naughty expectation. His teeth tugged at my bottom lip for a moment. He hesitated, pensively, before his teeth sank deeply into the tender flesh of my exposed neck. I felt the rushing warmth of fresh blood streaming from the wound, yet taken slowly away with an affectionate tickle from the tip of his tongue.

The sensation of his playful taunting made my hair stand on end. As he pressed me against the cold stone wall, my entire being awaited the dark-seeded force of his philistine rapture.

“My raven-haired mistress,” he panted in my ear. “I take you as my one and only,” he cajoled. Letting out a last vexing groan, I felt the flood of his passions warming my insides. We sank slowly to the ground, still coiled in his serpentine embrace and trying to catch our breath.
His hand cupped my cheek. “I would die a thousand deaths… to keep you … forever.” He prodded my chin forward, sealing his words with a long and sweet kiss.

Then he took my hand elegantly in his, raising me to my feet. His eyes shone like frosted glass in the fading light from the fire. His colorless cheeks flushed a pale pink.

“I love you, my mistress,” he said with a soft peck on my hand.

After saying that, he strode away to the next room. I stood there in silence, replaying his words repeatedly in my thoughts.

When he returned a few minutes later, it seemed he had dressed and bathed. He smelled like fresh lavender—my favorite scent. It reminded me of my old home…

“Ah, yes—I had gotten a little distracted from my aims…,” he reflected. “Allow me to show you around the place.” Laciis fis fine fingers in mine, he bent his arm until our hands hovered just below his shoulder. I felt honored by this close bond that he embraced without a second thought.
“The hallway to the left is for general guests. The one to the right is… private. Here in the middle,” he said, dotting his wand at the one cracked stone on the wall “is the entrance to the dungeons. This is unbeknownst to everyone else, except for myself, and now you.”

“What do you do down there?” I asked him in great hesitation.

“I believe it would be prudent to first see the rest of the rooms. We will make this our final stop.” For a brief time, he stared at the crack in the stone, and then returned his gaze to me. “It is merely part of the greater mystery lying within these walls.”

Moving on to the hallway to the left, we paused at each doorway. The first room to on the left side of the hall was the main bath. Directly opposite the bath was a meeting hall for general purpose. Next on the left, stood the general library. To the right was the first guest accommodation. On and on we moved through the soundless halls.

Upon reaching a great stone barricade, Severus placed his wand-hand on the wall. Instead of stopping on the wall, it passed directly through. “You will also be able to move freely through. It is one of the many subtle measures I have placed upon these walls to secure safe passage should the need present itself… Come,” he said.

Shuddering as we walked through the cold walls, I became relieved when we came upon the passage again. I beheld a small space with only one arch, leading to a great ascending staircase. “This is the first tower,” he said as we climbed.

When we reached the top, he took me to the only window. “If you look out this window, you can see Hogwarts grounds through the trees,” he added. As he gestured his wand at the treetops, they bent, one by one, to form a wooden tunnel. Alas, at the end of the tunnel Hogwarts grounds came into view. The castle stood among flickering torches, barren except for the occasional sweeping shadow.

“I like to come here to keep watch on the ‘gruesome threesome’,” he coined affectionately.
Once again, we returned to the small passage. This time, we negotiated the other solid stone wall. A long, narrow passage afforded no rooms that they eye could see. We barged through the stone façade at the end of the hall and climbed a second set of stairs.

“This is tower two. From this window, Hogsmeade can be observed.” He parted the trees from his sight again, revealing the quaint town of Hogsmeade. It gave a shadowy haunt this time of night.
I found myself continually drawn to images of the crack in the stone. The more I tried to pass them out of my mind, the more they taunted me. Severus paused in his step, returning suddenly from deep thought. His eyes delved deeply into mine for a moment.

“Alright, I see you are drawn to the hidden door. Am I correct in saying that you are already quite skilled at apparition?”

“Of course,” I replied testily.

“Then follow me to the dungeons, my mistress, and we shall walk among the shadows together.” He disapparated before my eyes and reappeared next to me a moment later, in the dank, lifeless dungeons.

An eerie chill passed through me as I adjusted to the shadows. Severus sat in a large oaken chair with metal latches on the arms where his wrists rested. His hand rubbed his temple slouching lazily in the disturbing chair.

“So this is your song, Severus?” I asked, pacing away from him. “You believe you are harsh and cruel—too hideous to be loved. You steal yourself away from those who would love you, thus saving yourself the heartache of that person discovering your darker passions. What you do not realize is the darkness shadows many hearts…,” I unveiled.

“I am harsh and cruel, Michele,” he brooded.

“That is not the person I see. I see someone that closely echoes my own soul, although on the other side of it. This sthe the dark evil that possesses me—has come from my parents. It was they who first supported the Dark Lord so many years ago. It was they who were the first among the Death Eaters. It was my mum and pop that first told the Dark Lord of the Death Eater ritual. They are the reason you and I are the way we are. They were the Death Eaters before the Dark Lord came to call.” I began to pace again, but with more vigor, more fear, more anger rising. My hand inadvertently tugged, wrapped, and yanked the hair that fell over my shoulders.

Severus watched me curiously. He straightened himself in the chair, brushing his lapel flat again. When he rose, he narrowed his black eyes in my direction. With a soft ‘tut’, he pulled his broad shoulders back and crossed the room. As he reached my worn path, he calmly took my shoulders in his hands. His eyes bent down to try to find mine but I avoided his gaze.

“Perhaps it is time for us to … talk? I cannot begin to imagine your life before Hogwarts. We Professors were not told the details of your admission into Hogwarts other than the fact that you had special circumstances. You were to be treated as an accomplished witch on a special assignment for the Ministry of Magic.”

My hands trembled as he laced his fingers in mine. Wrapping his arms tightly around me from behind, he sat down, placing me on his lap. I curled up in his lap like a cat preparing to nap. My head lay on his chest as he gingerly stroked my hair.

“So tell me about your mum and pop. Who exactly are they, and how did they come to be associated with the Dark Lord?” he asked curiously.

“Barkley J. Knight and, before they married, Theodora… Theodora Malfoy. My father was an English wizard that had worked for a short time in the Ministry of Magic here. After about a year or two, he was sent on Ministry business in the Americas and never came back. Just after the Dark Lord had left Hogwarts, my father was seen in India in the company of one Tom Riddle. It is rumored that my father had been studying the lost magic of Grindelwald at the time and happened upon Riddle by mistake. They got along well enough to explore the ancient magic and began the Death Eaters a short time later.” I paused, finally looking into his eyes. “My mother had assumed Barkley to be my father…” I curled my lips into a sneer at the thought of my mum.

“If I understand what you are telling me, then Barkley may not be your true father after all and Theodora is Lucius’… sister? And Riddle met your… met Barkley before the Death Eaters were formed, thus founding the Death Eaters together?” he clarified.

“Right.” I turned four shades of white. “My father may well have been Riddle himself… No one will ever know for sure… and that is why I have assumed the roles in the American Ministry. If I am the Dark Lord’s daughter, they believe I will soon come to power,” I muttered hollowly.

Severus’ eyes widened and he let out an uncontrollable gasp. “So you may very well be the only child of the Dark Lord? How can that be? I thought… after the ritual… I did not think one could bear or seed children. I would never have… well, that is beside the point now.”

“Yes, Voldemort completed the ritual but it was only just before his downfall. He knew what was at stake—he is no fool—but he… I know what goes on behind the closed doors. I know what the Death Eaters do. I know all about it, Severus… I was there,” I said shakily.

“You cannot be telling me that you were allowed in the Death Eater meetings! You must have only been…”

“I was only a child. I saw everything. I could tell you when you first came to see the Daord.ord. I could tell you what the Dark Lord thought… of you.” Without blinking, I stared into his horrified face. Unspeakable pain and suffering showed blatantly on his face.

“I cannot imagine…,” he uttered, shaking his head slowly.

“Let me show you,” I urged. His eyes met mine, our hands grasped the pendant, and our minds collided with such a force that we both jolted.

I took him to the dark basement beneath my father’s house. A small child sat in the corner of the room with her knees pulled tightly to her chest. She sat unnoticed among the adult wizards and witches in the room. Green-masked and hooded, they appeared to her as monsters. Mum and pop were there somewhere. They chanted in foreign words. They laughed… They groped at each other in the dark. They exposed their snarling faces. The men laughed as they took turns possessing the submissive women. They laughed and shrieked… They laughed as they gave pain. They laughed as they received pain. They laughed as the little dark-haired girl sat crying alone in the corner.

“I never imagined…,” he whispered in awe.

“Oh. No. Don’t try to understand. It’s done and over now,” I assured. Severus frowned with animate concern, while brushing a single cold tear from my cheek with his thumb. He said nothing more for some time, but merely held me close to him, resting his head on mine. He ran his benign hands through my ruffled hair with marked despair.

After several minutes of silence, Severus finally spoke. “I have carried so many regrets… and now I have found comfort in the arms of one whom I have helped to deprave… I cannot find the words to describe…,” he trailed.

“I don’t blame you, Severus. You are part of the healing, not the pain. When I saw you for the first time, I nearly cried. The memories and the pains came rushing back to me all at once. I do admit—I did see the Dark Mark on your arm. Though I have heard tell, rumors about ‘the Severus Snape’, I have since wondered if you would go so far as to indulge me a little—would you tell me your story?”

“I had supposed you would ask that question eventually,” he probed. “Let me take you back…,” he urged as he rubbed my temples.

In my mind, I saw through Severus’ eyes. A skinny boy with flashing black hair sat alone in a small, dank room with the door cracked enough to see what was going on in the kitchen beyond.
A tall, thin man shouted angrily at the woman that stood next to the stove. “A bastard child! The shame of it all! I will not sacrifice my reputation for the likes of you!” In a startling instant, he slammed her into the wall with a powerful green spark from his wand. She slumped to the floor with a soft thump.

The boy in the room watched. The man who had hit his mother, rounded on him with his wand. “Don’t you dare speak a word, boy or I’ll kill you both! I have a real son, thank you very much! Sirius is the only son I’ll ever have and don’t you dare try to get in the way!” The little boy wept softly in his bed, staring at the man who had turned to leave and his mother that slept on the floor. The man kicked her as he left. A young Severus dragged his mother to his room and laid her on the bed. He wept softly over her.

Severus released his hands from my temples, and began rubbing my shoulders fondly. An intense sigh escaped his lips as I looked up into his eyes. They appeared as melancholy bulbs of glass gazing into the darkness.

“So Sirius is your half-brother? No wonder you despise him!” I said slowly. “Was your mother a witch?”

“Of course. As it is, they were both purebloods but that did not matter to him. He took what he wanted from my mother and ran-off with Sirius’ mother. My mother did not mention me to him until I was roughly eleven. Then she tried to make him take me. She could not raise me alone and as you see, he made sure she knew he had his family…” He gritted his teeth sternly, trying to keep himself composed.

“So that’s why you became one of them—you wanted to inflict pain upon the ones that had hurt you the most. I cannot imagine what it must have been like being taunted by Sirius all those years! You were stronger, though. You wanted to be worthy of your father’s affections so you became a Death Eater—but why did you leave? Why did you turn spy for Dumbledore?”

“Dumbledore was like a father to me. What he thought made a difference to me. He accepted me and taught me that, although I could not control what happened between my father and mother, I could control what happened in my life. He believed in me when no one else would,” he admired.

“I only wish I had been lucky enough to have a Dumbledore around… but Draco—he drove me to be who I am.”

“Draco? How did Draco do that? It appeared that you despised him but how did this come about? It seems you have secrets about each other that would probably make waves with Lucius…,” he hinted.

“It was the keeping of the secrets that drove us both mad. Draco first came to see us the summer I got my letter of acceptance to Yorkshire Academy for Magical Studies. I was eleven and he was six. Lucius had been around most of my younger years but this time, he brought Draco for the entire summer. I had never seen Draco before. Draco and I toyed around with voodoo curses and other silly childhood games. The trouble began when he tried to follow his father’s goings-ons too closely. He took me with him, although I did not want to go. Together, we witnessed his father in one of the Death Eater’s rites with another woman. I remember him crying to my shoulder and making me swear I would never tell. He, in turn, swore he would never tell about my possible relation to the Dark Lord—you are the first one I have ever told.”

After a short pause for reflection, Severus brought out his wand. “Well, it is already morning and we need to get some sleep,” he muttered, yawning. With a sharp swish above my head, we left the cold dungeons and reappeared in a beautiful burgundy velvet bed. The crisp air around me assailed my bare skin. I felt a cold hand encircle my waist from behind as I lay on my side. “Sleep until the night falls once again, my Dark Lady. Then we shall speak again...,” the sexy voice whispered in my ear. Severus laid his head next to mine. The smell of warm lavender became the last memory of my waking that day.

End Scene Six