Second Place - Romance

Severus shivered slightly as he felt the presence of the dementors nearby. Shortly after he had first awakened, some Aurors, accompanied by two dementors, had come for him and had roughly escorted him to his new home. The Ministry thugs had laughed as they taunted the infamous Death Eater and his circumstances. They had made sure to let the potions master know just how filthy and disgusting they thought he was. One of the guards had sneered at him and told him that they should just let the dementors kiss him and be done with it. Actually, that sounded fine to Severus. Not even after some of the Death Eater revels had he ever felt this bad. For now he was here in Azkaban, but with the memories of all of his Death Eater activities along with his memories of his treatment by his father and uncle to keep him company.

"Come here, you worthless boy," the dark haired man growled. The small child cowered in the corner as the large man approached. He knew that refusing to go to him would only make the punishments worse, but fear held him captive. Snarling, the man grabbed the quivering child be the collar and roughly hauled him to his feet. "When I tell you to do something, you do it. Do you understand? Or are you as worthless as your bitch of a mother?" The man brought a hand back and quickly brought it across the young boy,s face.

The child refused to cry out as he was slapped, knowing that any sound would only serve to further infuriate his father. Instead, he stood silently, waiting for the next punishment.

"Finally teaching that runt some manners, eh, Sebastian?" The man,s brother said as he sauntered into the room. "You know, there are other ways we can teach the boy his place in life," the new man suggestively leered at his young nephew.

Sebastian turned around and stared hard at his brother. "You know, I think you might have an idea there. Merlin knows that nothing else gets through this boy,s thick head. And his mother certainly doesn,t know how to please." The man smiled grimly and the young boy cringed at the tone in the man,s voice. He was used to being beaten, but somehow he knew things were going to get worse. Fear shone in his eyes as the two men turned to him and his uncle started rubbing his own crotch in anticipation.

Severus sobbed quietly as the memories came unbidden. Much like his younger self, he crouched in the corner and hugged his body closely. Oh, Merlin, please make the thoughts go away he silently cried. His usual trick of listing potions ingredients and their various uses was completely ineffectual given the presence of the dementors. Finally the beings passed and Severus could breathe again. He thought he had only been in Azkaban a few hours and already he felt as if he were losing his mind. Reluctantly, his estimation of Sirius Black went up a notch as Severus remembered that the man had spent twelve years here.

The stoic man didn,t know how many more memories he could endure before he went stark raving mad. For one who valued so greatly the mind and its abilities, the idea of going crazy was truly frightening. Severus had always prided himself on his self-control and his mental acuity, and here in Azkaban he was in grave danger of losing both.

The worst part, he miserably thought, was that even if he had his wand available, he would likely be unable to produce a Patronus. The Patronus Charm only worked if the wizard casting the spell focused on a truly happy memory and Severus was fairly certain that he would not know a happy memory if he saw one. His life had been filled instead with bitter experiences and broken promises. The only remotely happy memories had come from his lovely mother, but she had died when he was still young. Severus had always suspected that she died at the hands of his father, but he had never been able to prove it.

From there, the young man,s life had worsened. Without the mitigating influence of his mother, his overbearing father had become even more abusive, often enlisting the services of his brother, Rasputin. Together, the two men had come up with many inventive punishments for the young Severus. Punishments that often included severe beatings and rape. Severus had grown up with little hope and little joy in his life. His only respites were the times when he could lose himself in a book, preferably on potions.

By the time he entered Hogwarts, Severus had learned many hard lessons in life, including the fact that others would only hurt you if given the opportunity. Thus, his teachers, classmates and housemates found him to be a self-reliant, embittered and jaded young child.

Severus shivered as the temperature dropped noticeably in the small cell. He knew only too well that that meant another dementor was nearing. He tried to breathe normally but the sensations overwhelmed him as he was plunged into another memory.

The teen struggled vainly against the magical bonds as his father and uncle dragged him into the center of the large room. Several cloaked and masked figures surrounded them, watching intently. "My lord. I bring you my son as an offering to show my devotion to you. He is quite skilled in the making of potions and may be of some use to you," Sebastian Snape bowed low as he presented his gift to his lord and master.

Voldemort smiled malevolently as he regarded his new toy. He had of course been keeping his eye on Sebastian,s young son over the years. The boy seemed to have a natural aptitude for potions as well as a sharp mind. The self-proclaimed Dark Lord acknowledged that the boy,s body was nice as well. Yes, he thought to himself. This one will do quite nicely. "Bring your ssson forward, my faithful child. Let usss Mark him and bring him into our family," he sibilantly said.

Obediently, the two men brought forth the still struggling youth. His left arm was wrenched forward and his sleeve pushed up to reveal smooth, unblemished skin. Lord Voldemort smoothly stood and faced the frightened boy. Raising his wand, the Dark Lord spoke an incantation in a strange hissing voice and placing the wand tip on the arm, he placed the Dark Mark on his newest follower.

Severus cried out in pain as the Mark seared into his skin. Tears ran down his face as his father and uncle still held him tightly in their grasps. The teen tried to pull back as a slender hand reached out for his face. "Ssso nice. Come, my pet, and I will show you the joysss of being my ssservant." Voldemort turned and clearly expected the men to bring the boy with them. Following their master, the men entered a small room off the larger meeting room and released the boy from his magical bonds. Again bowing deeply to their lord, the men silently backed out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

Voldemort slowly circled the shivering youth and laughter filled the room as the Dark Lord contemplated his new pet. "Ssso what shall you do for me, young Ssseverusss, to show your obedience to me?" A bony finger traced a pattern on the young man,s cheek and the teen struggled to contain his horror. Severus stood perfectly still as his new master drew closer and began touching his body in a more intimate manner.

Screams rent the air as Severus struggled against the memory of his induction in to the ranks of the Death Eaters. Voldemort had been no less gentle than his father and uncle had ever been with him and Severus had cried as his body was brutally used against his will. He had felt the shame and mortification well up within him as his new master reached completion. As always, the youth had tried to distance himself from the act, pulling inside his mind to try to protect himself. It was easier if he imagined that this had nothing to do with him, that it was not a part of his life, that it changed nothing about himself.

Gasping, the potions master finally pulled out of the memory and he struggled to regain control over his emotions. Everything felt raw and exposed. All the issues that he had spent so many years burying had been forced back up to the surface. Severus wiped a dirty hand across his face as he sat back against the cold wall. Now that the dementor had left he felt a little of his reserve slip back into place. He had the feeling that the dementors would quickly strip him of that ability the longer he spent here.

Sighing, Severus settled back onto the straw pallet and resigned himself to a sleepless night filled with terror-filled visits by those wild and crazy dementors. The man snorted as he realized the direction his train of thought had taken. Definitely wouldn,t be long before he,d be a jabbering mess at this rate, he sarcastically decided.

Severus closed his eyes as he again found his thoughts wandering to his friends and colleagues. He lost count of the number of times he had tried to ask about their well-being, only to be told that it was none of his concern. One of the Aurors had gone so far as to hex him when he had dared to inquire about Harry. Apparently, Death Eaters were not privileged with that sort of information. Oh, Harry, he sighed. Thank Merlin I never let you know how I feel about you. What would you think of me if you could see me now? Severus was miserable and was sure that his misery would only increase. Closing his eyes, he tried to shut out the sounds of the other prisoners and the sounds of their agony. He had enough with his own demons to face and fight. Slowly exhaustion took hold and the former professor of potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry fell into the land of nightmares and tempests.

The Flipside of Sanity - Chapter 7

Back to Chapter 5

Back to Results